Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch
by slashed one
Summary: Slash. In his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry is drawn to several mysteries, such as Sirius, who is haunting him, and the disappearances of Crabbe and Goyle, and Voldemort's new plan. HPSF, HP(JP)SB, slight HPRW
1. Chapter One

Sweet Sixteenth

A/N: This story is slash between Harry/Ron, Harry/Seamus, Harry/Sirius. Contains spoilers for OotP. Do not read if turned off by slash, or want to avoid spoilers. Please read and review. Thank you.

    As the sun lowered itself into the horizon, darkness fell, signaling yet another summer day's end. And Harry Potter, of Number 4, Privet Drive, would have usually felt happy about that, but no more. These days, the days and nights meant nothing. He had no goal left in life. It no longer mattered. To him, Hogwarts was just another school, and the Burrow was just another house, and his friends were just faces in the crowds.

    Only a month had passed since the summer started, and the calendar that was usually checked off as another day ended was left untouched. Harry was found lying on his bed, eyes closed, but still awake, thinking of nothing. The events of the past year wore down on him, and he felt as old as the Earth. Last year, wizards everywhere had made a mockery of him, promptly forgetting that the only reason that they were even alive today had been because of his birth. Only a handful of people believed in what he and Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, had said about Lord Voldemort's rising. Lord Voldemort was the most evil Dark Lord ever seen since the days of Salazar Slytherin. 

    In the end, Voldemort had made his appearance in the Ministry of Magic, trying to take a prophecy written about the both of them. The end result was that he had been revealed to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who wasted no time in letting the world know of his existence. Although this was good news, the price of it had been too high for Harry. In a frantic battle with Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters, many of his friends had been hurt, and his godfather, Sirius Black, had been killed.

    As thunder boomed in the distance, Harry's train of thought shifted from nothing to Sirius. He had met his godfather, and gotten to know him for all of two years, before his death. And although it pained him to think it, Sirius had been the one foolish enough to mock Bellatrix Lestrange, the Death Eater in question, and had died in the end. Harry couldn't help but feel that if Sirius hadn't tried to prove himself to his godson, he would still be alive today.

    'Snape,' Harry thought murderously. It had been Snape's fault as well, with his taunting and teasing that Sirius had done nothing but clean for the Order of the Phoenix. Harry's eyes narrowed, and he felt ready to rip his room into pieces with his bare hands. It was all Snape's fault. His thoughts shifted from Snape to other people as well. For the next few minutes, names flashed through his mind, all responsible for Sirius's death. Voldemort, Bellatrix, Snape, Kreacher, Lupin, Dumbledore…

    As Dumbledore's name was added to the mix, Harry felt another surge of anger. If Dumbledore hadn't been so adamant about not letting Sirius do anything for the Order, except for cleaning, and allowing them to set up Headquarters in his parents house, Sirius wouldn't have felt the need to show off in the first place. And Lupin…how dare he keep Harry from grabbing Sirius's body from the veil? If Lupin hadn't held him back, Harry might have been able to save him.

    Before he knew what he was doing, Harry banged open the door, and walked outside, not bothering that his aunt, uncle and cousin, the Dursleys, could hear him. They couldn't do anything anyway. It was his sixteenth birthday, the day when he would be considered an adult and finally be allowed to use magic outside of school. As he thundered down the stairs, his Uncle Vernon looked up at him, and Harry expected another loud lecture. Instead, he just said, 'Letters. And those ruddy owls had best not come back,'

    Harry ignored him, and went to the table where all the mail was kept. There were about six of them, all of which had been addressed to him in the living room. Harry wondered why, since all his previous letters had been addressed to him in his bedroom. He then remembered that he had been in the living room a few minutes ago, and supposed that the packages had been addressed to him and sent on their way at that time, and had reached the house when he had left for his bedroom. There was an official letter from Hogwarts, bearing the school's crest, one from Ron, one from Hermione, one from Hagrid, one from Lupin, and the last from the Ministry of Magic.

    He opened Ron's letter first, and squinted to read the untidy scrawl.

Dear Harry— 

_    Hey mate, how are you? We're all at the place we were last year. It feels horribly empty without him. I hope you're enjoying your holidays. Guess what, I got my OWLs today. So did Hermione. She's really pleased about it, says she did the best she could. Obviously. Anyway, Mum says that you can come visit if Dumbledore gives us the nod, and I think he will. We all miss you. We've been trying to do a special project to commemorate him, but it isn't going so well. We told his horrible mother the news, but she seemed really pleased. She's an awful woman, and Kreacher isn't that great either. Hermione still defends him, but I think she's starting to get annoyed by him too, and that would be saying something. So I volunteered for Kreacher to be the new tester for Fred and George. They're doing really well with the joke shop, and are back here for the summer. They say hi, and thanks for the money. I don't think Mum knows yet, but she's bound to. Anyway, don't get too down on yourself. No one could have helped it. Enjoy your sixteenth, mate._

_-Ron_

    Harry put down the note, and grabbed the package. He started to open it, but thought twice when he realized that his relatives were in the room, so he took all his packages and letters up to his bedroom. Once there, he opened Ron's package. It was a Sneakoscope. Again. He placed it carefully on his desk, and took Hermione's letter. At least her handwriting was neat.

Dear Harry— 

_    Harry birthday! I hope you're well. We're all back at the you-know-where, I do believe that Ron has mentioned it in his letter. Right now, we're all trying to rip off you-know-who's mother's portrait, but it's not going well. Kreacher won't have any of it, and keeps trying to stop us. It's also hard to get it down when she's screaming loudly in your ear. Dumbledore stopped by last week, and Mrs. Weasley asked if you could come, but unfortunately we were all ushered out of the room. And Fred and George weren't present right then, so we couldn't use the Extendable Ears either. Have you gotten your OWL results back yet? We got ours today, and I don't think Ron liked his much. In fact, when he looked through it, he looked rather sick. I do hope you're not blaming yourself for what happened, because, Harry, there was nothing you could have done._

_Anyway, I can't put much in this letter. I hope to see you soon. Take care of yourself, and enjoy your birthday._

_-Hermione_

    Opening her package, he saw that it was yet another book entitled 'Dark Magic and how to Recognize it'. Next, he went for the school letter, which he guessed bore his OWL results. It felt thicker than the usual letters he got, and picked it up.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_    This letter is to inform you of the results you have managed to achieve in your Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations, otherwise known as OWL Exams. Please be informed that as of now, you are required to take only elective classes that you feel will be most beneficial to your future. Enclosed will be your results, followed by a list of classes that you are allowed to take. Please note that you are not allowed to take less than three subjects. Thank you._

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

    Hands shaking, Harry took one of the other letters that had fallen from the envelope.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to announce that the following lists your results for the Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations (OWL Exams)._

· Astrology                                             _Outstanding_

· Care of Magical Creatures                     _Exceeds Expectations_

· Charms                                                 _Acceptable_

· Defense Against the Dark Arts                  _Exceeds Expectations_

· Divination                                             _Dreadful_

· Herbology                                             _Poor_

· History of Magic                           _Dreadful_

· Potions                                                 _Outstanding_

· Transfiguration                                                _Exceeds Expectations_

    It wasn't as bad as he thought. In fact, he felt relief rush through him as he saw his Potions grade, thanking the stars that Snape hadn't been the one marking the OWLs, or he would have never made it. Remembering what Professor McGonagall had said the previous year about Snape only accepting those with Outstanding or above for his Potions class, and Potions and Transfiguration being essential for Aurors, he felt a flash of excitement, before it went away. 'Do I want to be an Auror?' Harry wondered suddenly.

    It was the only job he had ever considered for his post-Hogwarts years, but after witnessing Sirius's death, he suddenly didn't feel so eager to do it. And as an Auror, he would definitely have to face more deaths. He thought about Mad-Eye Moody, and shivered. If he worked with the Aurors, there was a good chance that he could end up looking like that. He wasn't sure if he was exactly thrilled about having 'Mad-Eye Potter' as a nickname. Or worse, 'Mad-Nose Potter' or 'Mad-Lips Potter'. Of course, Mad-Lips      didn't exactly sound like an insult. Especially to people who didn't know what he looked like. It would sound like he was a really good snogger.

    Suddenly Harry was very unsure about his decision for his future, and was reminded of Hermione's manic career-reading. He remembered her reading about books on Muggle Relations, and Training Security Trolls. Suddenly Harry remembered that the only other thing he had ever thought about doing, aside from being an Auror, was to play Quidditch for a living. Of course, that was a long shot, but he everyone had told him in his fourth year that he flew better than Viktor Krum, an internationally famous Quidditch player for the Bulgarian team. _And_ Viktor had been older than him too. But even so, Harry still felt doubts.

    Promising to think about it later, he set down the results, and reached for his other letter from Hogwarts: The classes.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_    From the results of your examinations, it has been determined that you are able to apply for these classes for your sixth and seventh year._

· Astrology (Intermediate Course)                                                            _Prof. Sinistra_

· Care Of Magical Creatures (Intermediate Course)                        _Prof. Hagrid_

· Care of Magical Creatures (Advanced Course)                                    _Prof. Grubbly-Plank_

· Care of Magical Creatures (NEWT Course)                                    _Prof. Grubbly-Plank_

· Charms (Intermediate Course)                                                            _Prof. Flitwick_

· Defense Against the Dark Arts (Intermediate Course)                        _Prof. Leika_

· Defense Against the Dark Arts (Advanced Course)                        _Prof. Hyden_

· Defense Against the Dark Arts (NEWT Course)                                    _Prof. Hyden_

· Potions (Intermediate Course)                                                            _Prof. Cora_

· Potions (Advanced Course)                                                            _Prof. Cora_

· Potions (NEWT Course)                                                            _Prof. Snape_

· Transfiguration (Advanced Course)                                                _Prof. Halliwell_

· Transfiguration (NEWT Course)                                                _Prof. McGonagall_

_If you are granted permission to enter a NEWT Course, it is advisable that you ignore Intermediate and Advance levels and concentrate only on the NEWT Courses._

_*Note: Careers Advice has been given by the Head of House during Fifth-Year, and will be given twice each year when entering sixth and seventh year._

_**Note: All sixth year prefects are now in the running to be Head Boy and Head Girl. At the end of the year, it will be decided which prefect receives the Honor._

_At the end of the sixth year, all students must decide which field they want to enter (i.e. Auror Training), and will be given said class in their seventh year. If undecided, students must present Head of House with a list of choices (i.e. Auror Training, Healer, Banker, etc.). All choices must be practical (i.e. You are not permitted to choose Professional Singer, Professional Quidditch Player, etc. in your list of choices)._

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

    Harry felt even worse now.

*

    Harry tried his best to not think about Sirius as the days passed by, instead concentrating on choosing which subjects he wanted to take when he returned to Hogwarts. He wondered how many subjects Hermione would be taking, knowing it wouldn't be too many after the disastrous timetable she had been given in their third year. Just as he was about to go over the list again for the fifth time that day, he heard a knock on his window.

    Sirius, he thought irrationally, then gave himself a mental slap. Sirius had never been to Privet Drive before. He had never heard Sirius knock on the window before. But most importantly, Sirius was no longer here. With him. Trying to dislodge the lump in his throat, he looked up and saw Ron grinning at him…standing on air. Harry's jaw dropped, and he leapt to the window and opened it up. 'How…?' he trailed off, staring in amazement. Ron let out a tiny peal of laughter, which sounded amazingly like a woman's.

    'Don't let the disguise fool you,' Ron advised in a woman's voice, then stepped in, immediately changing into Tonks.

    'Wow,' Harry's eyebrows shot up. 'I never knew you could do that. Change into a whole person,'

    'It's very hard,' said Tonks, falling into a chair. 'And exhausting. I only recently developed that power, and it takes a lot out of me,'

    'So why'd you do it?'

    Tonks shrugged. 'I figured that you were having a lousy summer, after the…you know,' she stared tentatively into his eyes, 'and my morphs have never failed to get a laugh out of someone. I figured you could use it,'

    'Well, you'll just have to settle for amazed this time,' Harry replied.

    'I'll live. You ready?'

    Harry was caught off-guard. 'F—for what?'

    'Didn't you get our letter? We said we were going to pick you up tonight,' Tonks's eyes widened. Harry shook his head. 'Damn!' she whispered, then walked over to the window and leaned over. 'Moody! Arthur! Dung! Get in, quick!'

    Out of nowhere, the three wizards suddenly appeared in Harry's bedroom, holding what Harry recognized as an Invisibility Cloak. 'God, Tonks, how much do you weigh?' Mundungus Fletcher grumbled. 'That's the last time you ever stand on our heads while we're under the Cloak. Come to think of it, that's the last time you ever stand on our heads at all,'

    'Oh, cheer up, Dung,' Tonks chided. 'Harry needed a good scare. Anyway, the point is, Harry didn't get our letter saying that we'd pick him up today,'

    Immediately, the atmosphere of the room changed from friendly to tense. 'This true, Potter?' Moody growled. Harry nodded. Arthur Weasley, father of his best friend, Ron, looked very serious.

    'You-Know-Who and his followers have been getting bolder and bolder then,' Mr. Weasley mused. 'Ever since the _Daily Prophet_ ran that story of him returning, chaos has been all over he place. He knows that the game is up, so he's making no effort of hiding himself,'

    'What's been going on?' Harry asked. 'Dumbledore didn't want me to buy the _Prophet_ anymore,'

    'With good reason,' Moody growled. 'Owls coming in and out of this house everyday? Not only would the Muggles notice, but you could lead Voldemort straight to you,'

    'The Death Eaters have broken out of Azkaban,' Tonks reported grimly.

    'There have been reports of giants going over to the Dark Lord's side,' Arthur informed.

    'Countless deaths have been discovered with the Dark Mark upon the house,' Moody said.

    There was a moment of silence in which the four of them looked over to Mundungus to wait for him to say something. They watched as the thief walked around the room, and look up as he realized that he was being watched. 'Anythin' 'round this place you wouldn' mind donatin' to my noble cause, 'Arry?'

    'Oh, for Pete's sake, Mundungus,' Arthur cried.

    'Shh!' Harry hissed. 'My aunt and uncle are asleep, and Dudley is right next door,'

    'Oh, sorry, Harry,' Arthur apologized. 'Anyway, we _have_ to get going. I know that Dumbledore told you that this house was safe, but You-Know-Who—'

    'He has a _name_, Weasley,' Moody gowled.

    'Right, sorry. Anyway, he's been getting stronger everyday, and I'm not really certain that this house could hold off against him. And Sir—'Mr. Weasley cut himself off, looking uncomfortable. With good reason, Harry felt. 'And Headquarters would be much safer with all the protection. Plus, it's Unplottable,'

    Harry felt a sudden surge of anger. So, 12 Grimmauld Place was no longer considered Sirius's home, was it? It was only Headquarters now. Headquarters, and not the place where Sirius had spent fifteen years of his life. Harry's hands balled into fists, and he saw Tonks's eyes widen, and knew she had see it curl. Mr. Weasley, however, remained oblivious. I could just push him, Harry thought suddenly. I could just shove him and he would go out the window. A sweet image of Mr. Weasley stumbling back, and falling through the open window, falling headfirst into the hard ground, his head cracking open like an egg, made Harry dizzy with happiness. Suddenly, a rational voice resounded in his head. What are you doing? it asked. This is Mr. Weasley! You can't shove him out.

    'Harry?' Tonks said carefully.

    'Yeah, let's go,' Harry replied, forcing his hands uncurl. They nodded, and headed for the door, Dung following them. Harry stood by the window with Tonks, holding out his suitcase, as Tonks magicked all his clothes and books into his suitcase. Harry closed the suitcase, grabbed Hedwig's cage, which held the snowy white owl inside, and jumped on his Firebolt, which had been given back to him after Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts. As Tonks jumped on her broom as well, the Invisibility Cloak was pulled over all five of them, Harry in the centre, Tonks and Mr. Weasley beside him, with Moody behind him, and Mundungus in front.

    The Cloak had been enlarged, Mr. Weasley told him, to fit all of them, thereby reducing any chance of being shot out of the sky. It was Moody's idea. After hearing Mr. Weasley's strange explanation of the enlarged cloak, Harry found the fact that Moody had cooked it up quite easy to believe.

*

    Back at Grimmauld Place, Harry thought darkly. The flight had been uneventful, and he was filled with dread at the thought of returning to the home of Sirius's parents without Sirius there to greet him. 'Number 12 Grimmauld Place,' everyone said clearly, and the house materialized in front of them. Opening the door, they entered.

    The cleaning had done a lot of good for the place, but Harry forced himself not to dwell on that. Sirius had done most of the cleaning for the entire year, and Harry knew that if he thought about it, he would break down and start crying.

    Mrs. Weasley then walked out of the kitchen, bearing a smile. 'Hello, Harry,' she greeted, grabbing him in a tight hug. 'I hope you're well,'

    Why do people keep asking me that? Harry found himself wondering. Did people expect him to suddenly drop dead? 'Ron and Hermione are upstairs, if you want to see them,'

    'Yeah, thanks,' Harry said dully. He latched on to his bag, and dragged it upstairs, then burst into the room that he had shared with Ron the previous year. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were there, playing a board game.

    'Oh, good,' Ginny said, looking up, 'we have one last piece. You can join us. We're not doing so well, anyway.'

    'What are you playing?' Harry questioned.

    'Snakes and Ladders,' Hermione informed. 'The Wizard version,'

    'This game must be old, I've never seen it before,' said Ron, not taking his eyes off the game. 'Come join us, mate.' Harry observed the game. Just then, Ron landed on the mouth of a snake at number 34, and the snake suddenly came to life, and opened his mouth over the piece.

    The piece was a little soldier, who cried out in its miniscule voice as the snake lunged at it and chewed it up. Harry watched as the snake spat it back out, the soldier looking unrecognizable because it had been eaten. It magically healed itself, and crawled up the number which the snake's tail met it: 17.

    'Aw!' Ron groaned. 'I give up,'

    'Fine,' Hermione said. 'Then I win, as I'm at a higher number than the both of you,' she studied the numbers Ron and Ginny were on, 'combined,' she added. The three of them looked up to Harry, who was silent.

    'So what d'you say?' Ron asked. 'Fancy a game?'

    'Maybe later,' Harry said. He turned to walk over to his bed, and lowered his suitcase, and lowered his hand to the mattress. 'Right now I'm feeling rather—' he broke off with a gasp, as a vision flooded his brain.

_    He saw the bedroom, empty, except for him lying down. The door opened and Kreacher, the aged house-elf walked in, and went to Harry's side, and looked at him. Kreacher's hands lowered to Harry's throat, and wrapped around it, and it started to squeeze. Harry awoke, shocked, and struggled to get out of Kreacher's death grip, and pushed the elf away. Harry let out a silent roar and grabbed Kreacher—_

    'Harry?' The vision broke off as Ron's voice penetrated through his hazy mind. Harry raised his eyes to see Ron, Hermione and Ginny, sitting at the board game, looking at him in an alarmed fashion. Harry's mouth was still open from the gasp he had emitted. 'What's wrong?' Ron asked again. 'Is it your scar?'

    'No,' Harry said. 'Um…yeah, it was,'

    Hermione raised her eyebrows. 'You just said no,'

    'I thought Ron said something else,' he lied. He didn't know why he was hiding this vision from his friends, but he knew that if he told them, they would start to make a big deal out of nothing. Either that, or they wouldn't believe him. And he had had enough of people not believing him last year to last him a lifetime. 'It's nothing. Just hurt a little. But that's nothing now, since Voldemort's back. I'd better get used to it,'

    They nodded. Just then, Mrs. Weasley called out. 'Supper!'

    The three of them got to their feet and made their way to the door. Ginny turned back to glance at him. 'Aren't you coming?' she asked.

    'Um, I'm kind of tired. Could you tell your mom that I don't feel up to it?' Harry requested. Ginny nodded, and sauntered out the door, closing it behind her. Harry heard the sounds of Fred and George running down the stairs from their room to the dining hall. His mind raced. What had just happened?

    Shaking his head, he got into the bed, pulled the comforters around him, and fell into a deep sleep.

*

    He couldn't breathe. Something was choking him. Or _someone_. Remembering his vision, Harry jolted awake, and was shocked to see Kreacher looming over him, hands pressed tightly into his throat. Harry let out a croak, and clawed at the house-elf, who moved out of range. Harry's hands somehow found Kreacher's naked chest, and pushed him away. The force allowed the demented elf to release his grip on him, and allowed Harry to breathe.

    'What—what the hell—' he gasped, taking in air.

    'Filthy Mudblood must leave!' Kreacher cried. 'You is distressing my poor Mistress! Oh, what will she say to Kreacher if she saw traitor in her house!'

    'I can't be a traitor if I'm not pureblood,' Harry had sucked in enough air, and was currently being filled with rage. It was fantastic. He never felt this angry before, and felt as though he had all the strength in the world flowing through him. He let out a roar, and lunged, knocking Kreacher to the ground. Picking the tiny body up, he said in a low voice 'You don't need to worry what Mrs. Black will say to you,' With that, he slammed the house-elf into the wall, knocking him unconscious. Harry then reached into his suitcase, and pulled out an object Hagrid had once given him.

*

    'Oh, hello, Harry dear,' Mrs. Weasley said as Harry walked down the stairs. Ron, Hermione, Fred and George were already seated at the table.

    'Morning,' Harry said blearily.

    'Morning, mate,' Fred greeted, before returning to his pancakes. George, his mouth full at the moment, settled for a wave. Ron looked up and gave Harry a tired smile, having woken up only minutes before.

    'I've tried calling Kreacher all morning, but I can't find him,' Mrs. Weasley said to all of them in an irritated voice. 'Have you seen him anywhere, Harry?'

    Her question reminded Harry of the events of last night. 'No,' he shook his head, biting back the urge to tell Mrs. Weasley of what had happened after he went to sleep. 'Haven't seen him,'

    Mrs. Weasley sighed in frustration. 'Well, after you're all done eating, join me in the living room. I think another Boggart may have entered, and I'm pretty sure I heard some Doxys last night too,' she went up the stairs, and passed the portrait of Mrs. Black, past the shelf where Kreacher's head lay, along with his ancestors, eyes wide open in terror.

*

    'So what's this special thing you had planned that you wrote in your letter?' Harry asked Ron, as they assembled in the living room.

    'Oh, right, we were thinking of making a portrait of Sirius,' Ron said in a tentative voice, as if hoping Harry wouldn't start screaming at him. Harry merely nodded, thinking that it was actually a good idea. A portrait of Sirius, that would be able to talk. Maybe talk to him. Maybe care for him.

    A large lump formed once again in his throat, and he fought to swallow it down. Suddenly, he saw a flash of something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and stared, shocked to see the familiar face looking at him, with so much love. He couldn't believe it. He _wouldn't_ believe it. It was just a mirage. Or one of Voldemort's tricks. But he had to say something. So he did.

    'Sirius?' he asked softly.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this story. All belong to JK Rowling, our goddess.


	2. Chapter Two

_Do They Know?_

    Harry had never told anyone about his vision of Sirius in the hall a week ago, but had been haunted by his voice continuously. It wasn't as though Sirius was calling out to him, it was more of memories of things that Sirius had said when he was alive, but the strange thing was, he had never heard Sirius say these words before.

    Lupin had joined them in Headquarters last night, and was staying with them now. Though he was sure Lupin wanted to talk about the events that took place at the Department of Mysteries, Harry wasn't ready. Especially now that he had seen Sirius. Lately, he had felt something aching to burst out of him, but he didn't know what. He hadn't had any murderous feelings since he had killed Kreacher, but he didn't know what he needed.

    Ron, Hermione, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Lupin and Tonks were present at dinner when Harry joined them. Fred and George were obviously working late again in their joke shop. '…and the _Daily Prophet _has been having a field day, even though it's been almost three months,' Mr. Weasley was telling everyone at the table when Harry walked in.

    'Oh, Harry dear,' Mrs. Weasley jumped to her feet when she saw him walk in. 'Good. Let's get dinner,'

    'What are we talking about?' Harry asked, sitting down.

    'We think the _Daily Prophet _are trying to unseat Fudge as Minister for Magic,' said Tonks. 'Hopefully we'll get someone more competent. Maybe Dumbledore will be the new Minister,'

    'I doubt that Dumbledore would leave Hogwarts for the Ministry of Magic,' Mr. Weasley shook his head. 'After all, he was offered the position before, and turned it down,'

    'I'm not so sure that unseating Fudge right now would be a good idea,' said Harry, earning strange looks all around. 'I mean, we just convinced him that Voldemort—' Everyone except him, Hermione and Lupin shuddered (it never failed to surprise him that he and Hermione, who were half-bloods and Muggle-born, were not afraid of Voldemort's name, when pure-bloods like the Weasleys couldn't bear it. Especially since Voldemort didn't intend to harm pure-bloods if he could help it), 'we just convinced him that Voldemort has returned,' he said firmly.

    'But we've already alerted the world of Voldemort's return,' said Mr. Weasley.

    Harry couldn't think of anything else to say, so he merely shrugged. Mrs. Weasley walked in carrying a platter of roast chicken. 

    'I don't like this,' said Tonks suddenly. 'We haven't seen Kreacher in a week. He could be at the Malfoys, and with You-Know-Who. He knows too much about the Order,'

    'He's already told Voldemort everything he knows. Or at least Lucius Malfoy,' Harry replied glumly, remembering what Dumbledore told him last term.

    'How do you know that?' Ron asked, and Harry suddenly remembered that he hadn't told anyone about his talk with Dumbledore because he had been preoccupied with Sirius.

    'Oh, Dumbledore told me,' Harry told them. 'Kreacher ran away from Headquarters and told the Malfoys everything,'

    There was a sharp intake of breath all around him. 'It's okay,' said Lupin. 'Kreacher isn't the Secret-Keeper. They can't do anything even if they know where it is. It's Unplottable,'

    'Right,' Mrs. Weasley agreed shakily. 'And Dumbledore would never tell them.' At that moment, there was a screech from the window. Everyone turned to see an eagle eyeing them, a letter attached to its feet. Lupin crossed the room, and took it off. He opened the letter, and looked up. 

    'It's from Sturgis Podmore. He's been hiding out in Hogwarts ever since he escaped from Azkaban,' he said. 'He says that the Dementors have been helping the Death Eaters escape too,'

    'How did the eagle find it's way to Grimmauld Place?' Hermione wanted to know. 'It's Unplottable,'

    'The Fidelus Charm only works on humans,' Lupin explained. 'It makes sense, or else the owls wouldn't be able to find its way to Hogwarts to deliver its letters,'

    While everyone around him talked about Fidelus Charms, and Sturgis Podmore, Harry was immersed in his thoughts about Sirius.

*

    Harry was writing something on a piece of paper when Lupin knocked on the door. 'It's open,' he called out. 

    Lupin walked in, smiling apprehensively. 'Hi,' Harry greeted.

    'Hello,' Lupin nodded. 'What are you doing?'

    'Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just…doodling,' Harry said. 

    'I see,' Lupin nodded. 'Listen Harry, I umm…'

    Harry looked up at him expectantly.

    'Listen, Sirius told me that he gave you his two-way mirror for Christmas, and now that he's…gone…I thought that maybe you would like this,' and he handed Harry the second half of the two-way mirror. 'It was—'

    'Sirius's, I know,' Harry said flatly. 'Thanks,' he took it and pocketed it. Lupin, obviously startled by Harry's lack of emotion, backed away.

    'Anyway, I think I'll—'

    'Wait,' Harry said sharply. Lupin waited. 'There's something I need to tell you,'

    'Oh?'

    'Yes. I've been having…visions,'

    Lupin frowned. 'Visions. You mean in your dreams? Are you practicing Occlumency before going to sleep every night?'

    'It's not in my dreams,' Harry shook his head, feeling guilty that he had neglected Occlumency altogether. 'I had a vision when I was awake,'

    'What about?'

    Harry took in a deep breath. 'Kreacher,' he admitted.

    'Really? Do you know where he is? Is he with Voldemort?'

    'No. He's been in the house the whole time,' said Harry. 'I—I—his head is in the shelf with his ancestors,'

    'How?' Lupin asked. 'Who…?' Realization dawned on him. 'Oh.'

    'There's something else. Last week, when I was helping the Weasleys clean out the living room, I saw…Sirius,'

    Lupin didn't seem to know what to say about this. 'Well,' he bit his lip. 'Harry, you suffered a severe loss in the Department of Mysteries, it would only be normal to ima—'

    'I'm not imagining Sirius!' Harry snapped. 'He was there!'

    'And what did he do?' Lupin asked skeptically.

    'Nothing,' Harry told him. 'He disappeared. But after that, I've been hearing him talking,'

    'About?'

    'I don't know,' Harry was frustrated now. 'I've never heard him say stuff like this before. But…' hew paused, 'but I remember one thing. He was telling someone about making Wormtail the Secret-Keeper.'

    The memory of his words washed over him. _'It would be perfect. Voldemort knows about the Marauders, right? He knows we're best friends. But he also knows that Peter is the worst wizard in the group. He wouldn't even think about him being the Secret-Keeper. I know you have misgivings, but just think about it…'_

    'Secret-Keeper…' Lupin murmured. 'No, he didn't talk about that to me. I think that…' he stopped.

    'Yes?'

    'Nothing,' Lupin said hurriedly. 'I have to go,' and he turned around and headed for the door, and walked out. A few seconds later, Ron walked in. 

    'Hey,' he greeted. 'What happened? Lupin wanted to know where my parents were,'

    'There have been some things going on,' Harry told him. 'I bet Lupin has gone to call a meeting for the Order,'

    Ron grinned.

    'Well, good thing we have _these_ then,' he said, pulling out a pair of Extendable Ears.

    'Excellent!' Harry got off his bed. 'Let's go,'

    Sure enough, the door that guarded the room where meetings took place was locked tight. Harry and Ron placed the ends of their strings to their ears, and threw their Extendable Ears to the door.

    It was as though Lupin was talking right next to him. '…he killed Kreacher,'

    'Impossible,' Mrs. Weasley was saying. Ron shot him a horrified look, and Harry rolled his eyes. Kreacher was nothing but a menace that he was glad to be rid of.

    'Molly, he just admitted it to me in his room. But that's not why I called this meeting to order,'

    'Should Dumbledore be here?' asked Tonks.

    'We can fill him in later,' Lupin replied. 'What I have to say is of utmost importance. He's been imagining Sirius. He said he saw him last week,'

    'Hardly surprising,' Mr. Weasley said. 'He suffered a very big loss,'

    'Yes, but he's also been hearing things. Things Sirius said, I think. He heard Sirius talking to James about placing Peter as Secret-Keeper,'

    'How?' Tonks asked, sounding surprised.

    'I don't know,' Lupin answered. 'But I don't doubt that Dumbledore will,'

    'Fine,' Mrs. Weasley said. 'Arthur, you go and owl him now,'

    'Right, Molly,' Mr. Weasley agreed. There was a _creak_, and the sound of footsteps.

   'They're coming!' Ron whispered, taking the Extendable Ear off and stuffing it in his pocket. Harry did the same.

    They had gotten themselves to a safe distance when the door opened and Mr.Weasley walked out. 'Hello Harry, Ron,' he said. 'Excuse me,'

    They watched as he went for Error, the family owl, and took a piece of parchment and started writing.

    'Harry dear, would you like some food?' Mrs. Weasley asked.

    'Oh, no thanks,' Harry said. To escape their stares, he went back up to his room.

*

    He could see them surrounding him in their lair. He didn't know where he was, all he knew was that he was Voldemort. 'How goes the task?' he was asking.

    Lucius Malfoy was before him, breathing hard, signaling his fear. 'We haven't found the it yet, my Lord,' he was saying.  Surprisingly, Harry wasn't angry.

    'Very well,' he said. 'Keep looking. As soon as I have it in my hands, I will be invincible. And Harry Potter will never be a problem to me again. Where have you searched?'

    'I—I was trapped in Azkaban this whole time, My Lord. I haven't had enough time. We are all still searching England,'

    'And what has Bellatrix been doing?' Harry asked.

    'Torture,' spoke another Death Eater. 'She thinks that there might be some wizards who know the location. Loraina Young is her latest victim,'

    'Very well, very well,' Harry was saying. 'But be warned, I want information before the start of the term in Hogwarts. If there is nothing of value…' he trailed off, leaving it to the Death Eaters morbid imagination.

    'Yes, My Lord,' said Malfoy. 'We will know more about the—' But the scene was shifting. Harry wanted to stay, wanted to know what it was that Voldemort was searching for this time. But he had no control over this. And suddenly, Sirius was in front of him.

    'James, I know that you have misgivings…'

    'Yes, I do,' said Harry. 'Sirius, putting Peter as the Secret-Keeper? What are you thinking?'

    'Listen to me,' said Sirius. 'Peter will be perfect. Like I told you, Voldemort knows about the Marauders, someone has been telling him about you and Frank, remember? He knows that we're best friends. He also knows that we're the strongest in our team, so he would think of me as the Secret-Keeper. _But_ if we made Peter the Secret-Keeper, then Voldemort would go after me,'

    'And what? Kill you? Do you really want to die?'

    'We have no choice,' Sirius said. 'Voldemort will come after me no matter what. I'll go into hiding, don't worry. But this would be the perfect bluff. While Voldemort is occupied with me, you'll be perfectly safe,'

     Harry was silent. 'Think about it, James. Think about Lily. Think about _Harry_,'

    'I still don't like this idea,'

    'Neither do I, but we don't have a choice,'

    'Well, it might not even be me. I mean, as you said, Frank and Alice have a child too. And the prophecy could mean their child,'

    'Nautile Longbottom or something like that, yes. But if your family is under suspicion, that's not good. Dumbledore seems to suspect that Voldemort will be after you too, and Dumbledore is usually right,'

    'Fine,' Harry said finally. 'Fine. Let's do it. Should we tell Dumbledore,'

    'I don't think so,' Sirius said. Harry stared at him.

    'You suspect Dumbledore, don't you?' he blurted.

    'No!' Sirius laughed. 'Well…'

    'Sirius, that is so sick. If you can't trust Dumbledore, then you can't trust anyone,'

    Sirius gazed at him fondly. 'I trust you,' he said softly. Harry stopped. 'James…'

    'Sirius, I…' Harry's voice had gone soft. Sirius leaned down (James was sitting on the couch, Sirius standing before him, in the living room), but paused when his face was close. They were close enough to feel the heat of each other's breath. Harry felt a sudden urge to lock his lips with Sirius's moist ones. Sirius leaned in just a little closer, barely an inch. Then he backed away.

    'No,' Harry protested. He placed his hand on Sirius's shoulder, and it struck him just how beautiful his dead godfather was. Sirius leaned in close again, and they locked lips. 'Mmph,' Harry moaned into Sirius's mouth. Sirius was kissing him again. And again. His hands were moving down to his pants. It fumbled before opening his zipper, and Harry's stiff cock flew out. It was bigger than before, and harder than he ever remembered it being. 

    Sirius's strong hands wrapped itself around his cock. 'Ohh, James…' he moaned, kissing him even harder, more passionately. Harry's lips felt bruised. Sirius was stroking him…stroking. Stroking. Stroking. Stroking. Stroking.

    'Oh, God!' Harry moaned, pulling away from Sirius's mouth.

    And he woke up.

    But the memory stayed with him. In his boxers, his cock was throbbing, and grinding against the sheets, and with a soft moan, he threw his head back and shot his load. He wanted to close his eyes, return to the hot scene between Sirius and him…or more appropriately, Sirius and his father, James. 'Oh, God,' Harry whispered. His underwear was sticking to his groin and legs.

*

    The next day, Harry went down and was surprised to see Albus Dumbledore sitting at the table with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Lupin. They looked up as he came up to them. 'Ah, Harry,' Dumbledore smiled. 'Remus here was just telling me about your visions,'

    'What?' Harry nearly jumped out of his skin, thinking back to the dream he had had about his father and Sirius.

     'Your vision,' Lupin repeated. 'About seeing Sirius in the living room? And Kreacher? And hearing Sirius?'

    'Oh, right,' Harry was up to speed now. 'Yeah,'

    'Have you had anymore of these, Harry?' Dumbledore asked concernedly.

    'Um…' Harry was tempted to say no, but nodded instead.

    'Tell me about it,'

    'Well…' Harry started, sitting down. 'I dreamt about Sirius and my dad. My dad was sitting on a couch, and Sirius was talking to him. About making Peter the Secret-Keeper,'

    'You saw this?' Dumbeldore questioned.

    'Yes,' Harry nodded. 'I heard Sirius saying it before, but this time, I saw it,'

    'Anything else?'

    'N—wait, yes. I—I dreamt about Voldemort,' said Harry, as the Weasleys flinched. 'He was talking to the Death Eaters. He's waiting for them to find something for him,'

    'And where did you see this?' Dumbledore inquired.

    'Oh, I was asleep,'

    'No, Harry, he means what was your point-of-view,' said Mr. Weasley.

    'Oh, I was Voldemort,' The Weasleys flinched again.

    'And what about your dream about Sirius and James?'

    'I was my dad,' Harry admitted. Dumbledore nodded.

    'Well, I have a theory,' he said. 'For some reason, I think that you are…slipping in time,'

    'What do you mean?' Harry asked, nonplussed.

    'I mean that you are reliving the things of the past. Except that instead of James, you're in his place instead. Have you seen anyone besides Sirius? Or heard anyone except for him?'

    Harry thought back. 'No,' he said.

    'I thought not,' Dumbledore agreed. 'You're suffering from the trauma of losing Sirius, so you are blocking everyone else when you slip into the past. Even if they are there, you can't see them. You can't see anyone except for Sirius,'

    'But why?' Harry asked. 'I haven't done this to anyone else,'

    'You, Harry, are a very special person,' said Dumbledore. 'This is your way of commemorating the death of someone you love. You had no connection to Mr. Diggory, and you never knew your parents. Sirius was the person you were closest to, and your mind and your body are working together to hang on to him,'

    'And how long will this keep happening to me?'

    'As long as your mind sees fit. When you are over the loss of Sirius, when it doesn't hurt so much, then you will stop,' Dumbledore said. 'Of course, this is merely a theory,'

    But even though Dumbeldore said he was unsure, Harry had the feeling that the headmaster knew exactly what he was talking about.

*

    That night, Harry had completed his writing, and was looking over it. He didn't know what had driven him to write the poem, but he had.

They don't know what I don't reveal to them They don't know all the things I hide 

_Why would they care if I am damned_

_Why would they care for all I've cried?_

_Behind these doors, it's where all the sores_

_On my skin and on my soul become known_

_They don't care about the things I don't share_

_They don't know about the life I've thrown_

They're the ones so desperate to see me 

_So eager to be a part of my life_

_They don't know how loud I scream_

_When I am alone and out of sight_

_They don't know what I have lost_

_They don't realize all the things I've let go_

_Normalcy and I have never crossed_

_All the things I've done, do they know?_

_-'Do They Know?'_

_(A song written by me)_

A/N: I hope you liked it. Sorry about the delay. I wrote this song yesterday, and I immediately thought about Harry after Sirius fell into the veil. I thought it was so perfect, but I want your opinion. Please?

Discalimer: I don't own any of the characters, only the plot. It all belongs to JK Rowling. Thank you.


	3. Chapter Three

Haunted  
  
Harry was furious to find that, though he was of age, and had been through more than what most of the Order had, he was still forbidden to attend the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix. 'You're too young,' Mrs. Weasley would tell him firmly, before locking the door to the meeting room.  
  
'Why does your mother lock the door, even if there's no meeting going on?' Harry asked Ron one day. 'She didn't do that last year,'  
  
'Dunno,' Ron shrugged. 'Probably to keep us from sneaking in before a meeting and hiding there to hear them talk or something,'  
  
Harry stared. 'You came up with an answer quickly,'  
  
Ron grinned sheepishly. 'That's what Fred, George and I used to do when the Order was first recalled, until Mum caught us. Mind, she would always check to make sure that the room was empty before the meetings were called to order, so we didn't hear anything. Until the twins created he Extendable Ears, that is,'  
  
'That's right, the Extendable Ears,' Harry nodded. 'Do you still have any?'  
  
'Of course,' said Ron. 'I still have yours. You haven't used it since Christmas last year in St. Mungo's,'  
  
'Oh, yes, the famous Christmas of St. Mungo's,' said Harry darkly. 'Where are Hermione and Ginny, anyway?'  
  
'Probably up in their room talking about girl stuff,' said Ron in an unconcerned tone. 'And I checked my sources, and I found out that Ginny was lying about dating Dean Thomas,'  
  
Harry laughed. 'Excuse me? Checked your sources? And who exactly is that?'  
  
'Dean Thomas,'  
  
Harry laughed again. 'You're not serious,'  
  
'I am,' Ron smirked. 'Fred and George taught me how to make a Howler, since they've gotten so many during Hogwarts. It's really easy. After I made one, I sent Pig to deliver it to Dean's house,'  
  
'And how do you make a Howler?' Harry questioned, his interest piqued. In response, Ron grabbed a spare envelope from the bedroom, opened it, and took his wand, pointing the tip to his mouth.  
  
'Sonorus!' he muttered. The he said, 'Ginny, I know for a fact that you're not dating him!' and pointed the tip of his wand from his mouth to the envelope. To Harry's surprise, a soft green light entered the interior of the empty envelope, and it turned from white to red. Ron closed it. 'Best to cover your ears, mate,' he said. Harry did so, and Ron opened the now-red envelope again, then quickly stuffed his fingers into his ears. A second later, his voice exploded. 'GINNY, I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT YOU'RE NOT DATING HIM!' and it was over.  
  
'Wicked,' said Harry, removing his fingers from his ears.  
  
'I know,' said Ron. At that moment, Hermione and Ginny burst in, frowning.   
  
'Ron, I could hear you,' said Ginny, folding her arms across her chest. 'How many Howlers do you plan on making, anyway? This is the third one this month!'  
  
'Well, you lied,' shrugged Ron. Ginny rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.  
  
'So which subjects are you taking, Harry?' Hermione questioned.  
  
'All of them, I suppose,' said Harry. 'How many OWLs did you get?'  
  
Hermione smirked.  
  
'Ten,' she said. 'I got an Outstanding in Potions, Muggle Studies, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy and History of Magic, Exceeds Expectations in Rune Studies and Care of Magical Creatures, and Arithmancy,'  
  
'Without your head exploding?' Ron asked incredulously.  
  
'Children!' they heard Mrs. Weasley call from below. 'Come down for dinner. Fred and George are here too!'  
  
They went down and passed the hall containing Mrs. Black's portrait and Kreacher's head. As they passed the case of house-elf heads, Hermione shuddered. 'Ugh—look,' she pointed to Kreacher's head. 'Harry, you didnt stuff the head, did you?' They had found out that Harry had killed Kreacher, but no one, with the exception of Hermione and Mrs. Weasley really minded. Everyone cared more about the fact that Harry actually killed a living creature than who the creature was. Harry turned to look, and immediately wished he didn't. Kreacher's head was decaying.  
  
'Ew!' Ron and Ginny cried in unison. Harry, however, couldn't care in the least.  
  
'Hurry up,' he said, striding past. 'Dinner,'  
  
When they went in, they saw the twins talking to their parents. '—a sort of wrench. Maybe that would work,' George was telling Mr. Weasley, who looked deeply fascinated.  
  
'Hey,' said Harry. 'What are you talking about?'  
  
'Harry, what do you know about a wrench?' Mr. Weasley looked up. 'Do Muggles usually use those to get rid of portraits?'  
  
'Not as far as I know. Why?'  
  
'Well, Muggle portraits don't have Permanent-Sticking Charms on them, do they?' Fred pointed out. 'I think it would be the best bet,'  
  
'I don't know,' said Harry, 'the things Muggles use are usually outstripped by magic. I don't think a wrench would be powerful enough to get rid of Mrs. Black's portrait,'  
  
'Have you got the paints?' asked Ron as he, Hermione and Ginny bounded down.  
  
'Yep,' George nodded. 'It's in that bag over by the couch,' he gestured it with his head.  
  
'What do you need paints for?' Harry asked.  
  
'I told you that we're trying to paint a portrait of Sirius,' reminded Ron. 'I asked Fred and George to get use some paint for it. We can't risk having a professional do it, or he might tell the Ministry that we were in league with Sirius,'  
  
'Kingsley Shaklebolt has been telling the Ministry of how a Muggle from India spotted Sirius near the Ganges River,' Mrs. Weasley said as she came out with a platter of food.  
  
'Why haven't we cleared Sirius's name already?' asked Harry. 'It's the least we could do for him,'  
  
'It's very complicated, Harry,' said Mr. Weasley. 'Sirius was imprisoned for twelve years for being in league with You-Know-Who. Now that he's back, Fudge has had every Auror available scouring Britain for Sirius. Until we can get Pettigrew to confess what he did, we can't clear his name,'  
  
'Yes, we can!' Harry said furiously. 'You can put me, Ron and Hermione under Veritaserum. We know what really happened. And I'm sure Lupin would go for it too,'  
  
'Children and werewolves are not taken seriously in the Ministry,' sighed Mr. Weasley, looking tired. 'I know it's unfair, but our best bet is to get Pettigrew,'  
  
'Well … you can go then, can't you?' Harry asked. 'You can tell what you've done for the Order. Or Dumbledore can step up. Or …' he turned to Fred and George, 'you two would step up if you had to, wouldn't you?'  
  
''Course we will,' Fred nodded. 'I think it's unfair too,'  
  
'Harry, things are very delicate now,' said Hermione gently. 'You can't just burst in on the Ministry of Magic with this kind of information, no matter how truthful it is. Fudge already spent a year telling people that you and Dumbledore were nutters. Even though the magical world knows the truth now, they're going to take a while before they trust you again. And the Weasleys … well, if the Ministry still decides that Sirius was guilty, the Weasleys could be thrown into Azkaban for being in alliance with him for over a year,'  
  
'Yes, because we all know what a secure place Azkaban is,' Harry muttered sarcastically. 'I mean, no one has ever managed to escape Azkaban before,'  
  
No one seemed to know what to say to this, and Ron, who had been there for quite some time, murmured, 'I'm going to just put these up in my room, then,'  
  
After he came back, they ate dinner quietly.  
  
*  
  
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN  
  
DEATH EATERS STILL AT LARGE  
  
Harry read from the front page of the Daily Prophet the next morning. It seemed that Fudge had gone to check on the prisoners that Harry had helped throw in jail, only to discover that they—along with the Dementors—were missing. '"The Dementors have truly deserted us during out time of need," quotes Fudge during an emergency conference with representatives of the International Confederation of Wizards at four a.m. this morning. "A new law has been passed, stating that anyone accused of being a Death Eater is punishable by death. I am now declaring a state of emergency."'  
  
'Surprise, surprise,' muttered Harry, tossing the paper on the table in dusgust. He took a sip of tea, and gazed out the window, watching the sun rise.  
  
'Oh, Harry, dear. I didn't know you'd be up so early,' Harry turned to see Mrs. Weasley, dressed in a fluffy pink robe, coming down the stairs. 'What do you want for breakfast, dear?'  
  
'Nothing, thank you,' said Harry. 'I just made a cup of tea,'  
  
'Well, all right,' said Mrs. Weasley dubiously. 'Are you sure you wouldn't want anything? Just to keep your strength up. We have a busy day in front of us,' Fred and George were to take Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny to Diagon Alley to buy their new schoolbooks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going back to the Burrow to meet up with Mundungus Fletcher and Tonks to pick up a few things. Harry hadn't said anything, but he couldn't bear the thought of the Weasleys packing up from the Burrow and moving into Grimmauld Place. It made everything so final, and it only served to remind him that Sirius was indeed gone. The Weasleys were to take his place instead.  
  
As Mrs. Weasley started breakfast, Mr. Weasley rushed down, fully-dressed. 'Arthur!' she exclaimed, catching sight of him. 'Where are you going? It's Saturday!'  
  
'Just got a call from Perkins, Molly,' said Mr. Weasley. 'There's an emergency. Could you pass me that paper, Harry?' Harry handed it to him. 'Oh, Good Lord, so it's true,'  
  
'What is?' Mrs. Weasley asked, leaving the eggs frying in the pan to come and see what her husband was talking about. She gave a gasp, and clapped her hand to her mouth.  
  
'You should probably get the Ministry to conduct raids or something,' Harry suggested. 'Chances are, Mr. Malfoy's hiding in his manor,'  
  
'Yes, good idea, Harry,' nodded Mr. Weasley. 'The Muggle-Protection Act couldn't find anything in Malfoy Manor however, last time I checked,'  
  
'Did you check in the hidden door in the drawing room?' Harry asked, recalling what Draco had told him and Ron in their second year while they were under the effects of the Polyjuice Potion. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stared at him.  
  
'I certainly will,' Mr. Weasley said. 'I'll try to break away from work by three, Molly,' he said. 'The office needs everyone right now. Fudge is frantic,'  
  
'I'll be fine, Arthur,' Mrs. Weasley nodded. 'If worst comes to worst, I'll just call in Remus to take your place, but I think Mundungus, Tonks and I will be fine on our own,'  
  
'Good,' nodded Mr. Weasley. 'See you, Harry. Bye Molly,' he kissed her on the cheek, before he disappeared with a crack!  
  
'Fred and George will be here in a few hours, Harry. Maybe you should get some sleep until then,' said Mrs. Weasley, attention back on her eggs. 'I'm sure you feel exhausted,' she added, throwing sausages into the pan as she took out the eggs and put them in a plate.  
  
'I really, really don't,' said Harry, taking another sip of coffee. He checked his watch. 8 a.m.  
  
At that moment, Hermione came down, holding her booklist, already showered and dressed. 'Hello,' she smiled. 'When are Fred and George arriving?'  
  
'About ten,' Mrs. Weasley informed.  
  
'Oh, good, this gives me a bit more time to finish some work,'  
  
'What work?' Harry asked in surprise. 'I didn't know we had holiday homework,'  
  
'Well, of course we didn't,' said Hermione. 'I mean work of a more personal nature,'  
  
'What? Knitting for the house-elves again?'  
  
'Partially,' she said mysteriously. 'But I've decided to take on a new task as well,'  
  
'Would it do me any good to ask what it is?'  
  
'Not yet,' Hermione shook her head.  
  
*  
  
They split up when they got to Diagon Alley. 'We'll meet you in Flourish and Blotts in an hour,' promised Fred.  
  
'Are you going to the joke shop?' asked Ron.  
  
'We're not allowed back in,' George grinned. 'Healthy sportsmanship and all. We're going to Dervish and Banges,'  
  
'What would Fred and George be doing in a hardware store?' asked Harry as the three of them stopped by Florean Fortescue to buy ice-cream cones.  
  
'Dunno,' said Ron as Harry paid the man behind the counter. 'I suppose they're building some sort of joke gadget.' After they finished their double fudge ice-cream, they went to Flourish and Blotts. 'What do we need?'  
  
Harry consulted his booklist. 'Charmed, by Holland Paige for Charms,' he read out loud. 'Where's the Charms section?'  
  
'Over there, by those red books … are those crabs?' Hermione squinted to see the red books trapped in a cage. It had pincers just like crabs, and were scuttling about. All of a sudden, they breathed fire.  
  
'Blimey,' Ron's eyes widened. 'We don't need those, do we?'  
  
'I hope not,' said Hermione worriedly, and Harry knew that she was thinking back to their third year when Hagrid had given them The Monster Book of Monsters as their Care of Magical Creatures textbook. 'Excuse me,' she caught the arm of a haggard-looking man, who wore a nametag announcing that he was the assistant. 'What are those books in that cage over there?'  
  
'Oh no,' he groaned. 'That's The Firecrab by Alexis Orionette. Our bestseller,'  
  
He looked on the verge of tears as Harry, Ron and Hermione checked their booklist. 'It's okay!' said Harry. 'We don't have those on our list.' The assistant brightened immediately, and turned, alarmed, when he heard a scream of terror. Someone had tried to get one of the books, and it had latched on to his finger.  
  
'Poor bloke,' said Ron as the assistant ran to free the man. 'Imagine having those horrors as bestsellers,'  
  
'Still, must be a good book if it's such a hit,' Harry laughed. He trailed off when they arrived at the Charms section. Draco Malfoy was there with his mother, Narcissa Malfoy, whom Harry had seen at the Quidditch World Cup two years ago. Ron and Hermione pulled him out of sight.  
  
'What did you do that for?' asked Harry furiously.  
  
'Harry, in case you haven't noticed, the Malfoys hate you more than usual ever since you put Draco's father in Azkaban and had him fired from the Ministry,'  
  
'So?'  
  
'So?' repeated Ron in an incredulous tone. 'Harry, the Malfoys will never work in the wizarding world again now that you named them as Death Eaters. You've blown their whole under-the-Imperius-Curse cover. All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if Malfoy tried to Avada Kedavra you right here,'  
  
'You're missing my point,' Harry said in an exasperated tone. 'I don't care about Malfoy. I can handle myself,'  
  
'And what about Narcissa Malfoy?' asked Ron.  
  
'Who cares? They can't do anything in public. I know that Azkaban doesn't mean much anymore since the Dementors left, but still …' Reluctantly, Ron and Hermione let him go. Pushing his hair back, Harry went to search for his book. Malfoy and his mother were still there, and looked up as Harry started searching for the Charmed book. Malfoy sneered, but didn't say anything. After a minute or two, they walked away. 'There,' he said to Ron and Hermione, as they joined him. 'Nothing rash. No one's dead,'  
  
'You want to be a bit more careful,' warned Hermione. 'The Malfoys don't have anything more to lose, and Voldemort would love to see you dead,'  
  
'Don't say his name,' said Ron at once. Hermione ignored him.  
  
'There you are!' said George, coming up to them, Fred in tow. 'Got your books yet?'  
  
'Not yet,' said Harry. 'Now you can help us.'  
  
'You see, George, I told you we should have stayed a little longer,' chastised Fred. 'Now we've got to spend time finding more Hogwarts books, even though we graduated!'  
  
*  
  
It was the last night of the summer holidays, and Kingsley Shacklebolt, Moody, Tonks and Lupin had joined them for dinner. 'I talked to Severus about his mission,' Lupin was saying, 'but it hasn't happened yet. Dumbledore has misgivings about the whole thing, and personally, if Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea, it probably isn't.'  
  
'What's Snape's new mission?' asked Harry interestedly.  
  
'Never you mind,' said Mrs. Weasley quickly. 'More peas, anybody?'  
  
'Oh, come on, Molly,' said Tonks. 'If Snape's going to disappear in the middle of the year for Order work, then it's best if they know what's up. Knowing this lot,' she grinned, nodding her head to Harry, Ron and Hermione, 'they'd probably camp out in the Forbidden Forest if it would tell them answers as to what Snape's doing,'  
  
'Ha,' scoffed Lupin. 'I agree, as long as we're talking about anyone but Snape. Knowing them, they'd probably have Gryffindor Tower up all night by partying,' Laughter all around greeted this, and even Mrs. Weasley cracked a smile. The doorbell rang, and it was immediately followed by Mrs. Black's shrieks.  
  
'FILTHY VERMIN, DARING TO ENTER THE HOUSE OF MY FOREFATHERS—'  
  
'I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell,' said Mrs. Weasley in exasperation, getting up from the dinner table to answer the door. 'What are you doing here?' they hear her ask when she answered it.  
  
'Is that any way to greet your child?' they heard one of the twins ask.  
  
'Not you two. Them!'  
  
'Hi, Mrs. Weasley,' Harry heard a very familiar voice say. 'Hope you don't mind us intruding on your dinner like this,'  
  
'Yes, we just thought it was about time for us to fight the good fight,' said another voice.  
  
'Is that … Angelina and Lee?' asked Hermione, voicing Harry's thoughts. It was. Fred and George, followed closely by Angelina Johnson, Harry's former Quidditch captain, and Lee Jordan, the former commentator for Quidditch matches.   
  
'You can't just give people the address to the Order!' Mrs. Weasley was shouting. 'Honestly, what am I to do with you—'  
  
'Hold up, Mum,' George interrupted. 'Lee and Angelina couldn't have found their way without Dumbledore telling them about it. He's fine with letting them into the Order,' Mrs. Weasley couldn't find anything to argue with that, so she just sat down and grudgingly drew up four chairs for the newcomers. 'Eat,' she ordered.  
  
They sat down gratefully, Angelina next to Harry. 'So, Harry, ready to get back on the team this year?' she asked.  
  
'Of course,' nodded Harry. 'No one could keep me away for long,'  
  
'Good to hear it,' said Angelina. 'But most of the people will be new. Hope you have better luck than I did.'  
  
'I'm sure I will,' Harry grinned. 'Assuming that I'm the new captain, of course.' Angelina looked at Ron, then turned back to Harry.  
  
'No doubt,' she whispered.  
  
*  
  
Fred and George dropped them off at King's Cross the following morning. Ginny leaned back against the barrier separating Platform 9 and 10, and within an instant, had fallen through. Hermione was next, then Ron. 'Mummy,' Harry heard a little girl whisper to her mother, 'that boy walked through a wall!'  
  
'Oh, don't be silly, Alison. Now come, we're going to miss our train,' said the mother, dragging her daughter along. Harry grinned, relieved, and went through the wall, pulling his trolley which held his luggage and Hedwig along with him.  
  
'Better be careful,' he said to Ron when he they met up again. 'A Muggle girl was telling her mother how you can walk through walls,'  
  
'Did her mother believe it?' Ron asked worriedly.  
  
'No,' Harry shook his head. He, Ron, Hermione and Ginny made their way into the Hogwarts Express, and headed straight for their usual compartment in the back. They waved to students they knew, most of whom were in the DA last year. Harry didn't see any sign of Cho Chang, his ex-almost-girlfriend, and didn't really bother to look. The four of them got the shock of their lives when they saw that their compartment was full. There was Neville Longbottom, who was holding his toad, Trevor, in his hand. Luna Lovegood, who Harry had met only last year, was sitting on the floor of the compartment, reading the September edition of The Quibbler. Anthony Goldstein was talking to Seamus Finnigan, and the Creevey brothers were talking animatedly to a bored looking girl whom Harry didn't know. There was also another girl he didn't know personally, but knew that she was in Gryffindor. She was eyeing Trevor with great distaste on her face.  
  
'Hi, Harry,' they greeted when they caught sight of him.  
  
'Hi,' Harry murmured, taking a seat next to the Gryffindor girl.  
  
'Have a good summer, Harry?' Anthony Goldstein asked conversationally.  
  
'Er, yeah. Quite good, thanks,' Harry responded.  
  
'Hi, Harry,' said the Gryffindor girl. 'Kalana Kolaris. I'm in Gryffindor with you,'  
  
'Hi,' he nodded. 'Are you new?'  
  
Her face fell. 'No, I'm the sixth year. I've been here ever since my first year,'  
  
'Oh,' said Harry. Kalana didn't bother trying to talk to him again.  
  
'Lorena Nott,' introduced the other girl. 'I'm new, just shifted from Durmstrang. I'm in the sixth year too,'  
  
'Nott?' Ron repeated in surprise. 'Do you have a relative here in Slytherin? A brother?'  
  
'A cousin. We don't get along well,' Lorena informed. 'Our fathers went to Hogwarts together, but—I dunno, I guess I wasn't evil enough—I got sent to Durmstrang because they really emphasize on the Dark Arts there,'  
  
'Did you know Viktor Krum?' asked Hermione.  
  
'Not really. Everybody knows Viktor, of course, but we didn't run in the same circles,' Lorena replied. 'He was hardly ever at school because he played professional Quidditch. He would disappear for months at a time. And then he became a seventh year, and competed in the Triwizard Tournament,'  
  
'Harry was in that!' Colin said immediately. 'And he came in first, didn't you, Harry? Beat everyone, and he was only a fourth-year at the time,' Harry wanted to tell Colin to shut up, that there were circumstances that helped Harry tie with Cedric Diggory. After all, Professor Moody, who was actually Barty Crouch Jr., a Death Eater, had forced the Imperius Curse on Krum and stunned Fleur Delacour, eliminating them from the competition.  
  
'So … why have you been transferred to Hogwarts?' asked Hermione.  
  
'The Dark Lord,' said Lorena simply. The Creeveys' stopped talking at once. 'My father wanted me to be close, I suppose, but I'm not into that. The black sheep of the family, you could say. Just because I think that there are better things to do than kill and torture innocent Muggles,'  
  
'So you don't want to be a Slytherin?' asked Ron. Never had he heard of a Nott refusing to be in Slytherin.  
  
'I'm aiming for Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. But I heard that Hufflepuff's are a bunch of idiots who just await instruction, so that's out,'  
  
'The Sorting Hat almost put me in Hufflepuff,' said Neville suddenly. Lorena stared, then turned her attention back to Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione.  
  
'So you don't get along with your family?' Ginny questioned.  
  
It was quite a personal question, but Lorena didn't seem to mind. 'Not well,' she replied. 'We don't really talk. My cousin, he just hangs around this arrogant jerk, Taco Malfoy—'  
  
'Draco Malfoy,' they corrected in unison.  
  
'Right, him. I met him once during the summer after my third year. He was howling about injustice because he was almost killed by a Manticore and it had been allowed to walk free or something,'  
  
'It was a Hippogriff, actually,' said Hermione. 'And it scratched his arm, only because he refused to listen to the Care of Magical Creatures teacher and insulted it.'  
  
And so, they spent the rest of the train ride this way. They were interrupted by a constant flow of people who were all eager to see Harry and deny that they ever thought of him as a lunatic the previous year, and was visited by Malfoy himself, who was without his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, for once. Malfoy left fairly quickly, after taunts of tacos and ferrets, to be replaced by the lady who wheeled in the cart of food.  
  
It was nightfall by the time they arrived at Hogwarts. 'Firs'-Years! Firs'-Years over here!' they heard Hagrid call as they went for the carriages. Ron still couldn't see them, but Harry swore that they were getting uglier every time he looked at them.  
  
'Do you realize that Hagrid won't be teaching us Care of Magical Creatures anymore?' Hermione asked, as the four of them shared a carriage. It had never occurred to Harry, although it was written in the notice he was given during the holidays, and judging from Ron's wide eyes, it hadn't occurred to him either. 'I wonder why. I remember Fred and George saying that Hagrid continued teaching them for their NEWT Course,'  
  
They couldn't explain it, and when they got to the castle, Professor Snape was there to meet them. 'Potter,' he barked. 'You're wanted in the Headmaster's office. You too, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger. Ms. Weasley, if you don't stop gawking and get to your seat in the Great Hall, I shall give you a detention. Ms. Nott!' he called, catching sight of Lorena, 'you are to find Professor McGonagall. She is in the room before the Great Hall, attending to the First-Years. Ms. Weasley here will guide you. You are to be Sorted into your house immediately. What are you all waiting for? Move!'  
  
'Miserable idiot,' muttered Ron. 'Who does he think he is, ordering us around like that?'  
  
They arrived at the stone gargoyle that guarded Professor Dumbledore's office. 'Er …' said Harry. 'Lemon drop? Cockroach Cluster? Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans?' Nothing. 'Okay, Professor Snape told us that Professor Dumbledore wants to see us, but he didn't give us the password and—'  
  
'Name?' said the stone gargoyle suddenly.  
  
Harry stared, stunned. 'Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger,'  
  
The stone gargoyle jumped out of the way.  
  
'Er, thanks,' said Harry before the three of them went up the staircase and entered Dumbledore's office. They found him sitting at his desk, stroking Fawkes the Phoenix.  
  
'Ah, Mr. potter, Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley,' said Dumbledore as they walked in. 'Professor McGonagall is currently Sorting Ms. Nott, and she requested that you stay here as her office is currently in use. She wishes to give you the password to Gryffindor Tower before the Sorting commences,'  
  
'Yes, sir,' they replied.  
  
'I wonder, if you would be so kind as to leave me and Harry alone for a moment. I wish to talk to him privately,' requested Dumbledore. Hermione nodded and grabbed Ron's hand and they exited. 'Harry, have you been having anymore dreams of Sirius?' he asked when Ron and Hermione were safely out the door.  
  
'No,' said Harry at once.  
  
'I see,' nodded Dumbledore. 'Harry, I don't think I have to tell you that it is crucial for you to report anything you feel is important. There can be no secrets this year,'  
  
'Yes, sir,' Harry nodded.   
  
Dumbledore nodded, and said, 'Harry, I'm sure that you have noticed that there were a few extra teachers this year. Professor Hyden and Leika, for example,'  
  
'Yes, why is that?' Harry had indeed wondered about this.  
  
'The Ministry, I'm afraid, has tried to force new teachers on us once again, but in the end, they were fired, to be replaced with one teacher. They also decided that it would be best to add the Intermediate and Advanced Courses for the students who have completed their OWLs. Usually, there are only NEWT Courses,'  
  
'Who?'  
  
'I'm afraid, the teacher has asked for anonymity until the Feast. You shall find out then,'  
  
'Yes Professor,' nodded Harry.  
  
Dumbledore surveyed Harry for a moment, and finally said, 'Very well, very well, that is all, I think. You may go down to the Feast now,'  
  
'Thank you, sir,' said Harry, getting up and leaving the room.  
  
Harry got up and wheeled out the door. Ron and Hermione were gone, and he assumed that Professor McGonagall had already found them. He made his way into the Great Hall, feeling extremely conspicuous coming in late. The Sorting Hat was already there, but the First-Years were watching it with a terrified expression, so Harry deduced that the Sorting hadn't commenced yet. The Sorting Hat must have been placed for Lorena Nott to be Sorted. He didn't see her in the Gryffindor table, and assumed that she may have been placed in Slytherin. Ron and Hermione were sitting beside Ginny and some Gryffindor third-year, so Harry sat down next to Seamus.   
  
'Did they sort Lorena Nott?' he asked.  
  
'Yes,' said Seamus. 'Ravenclaw. The Sorting Hat's about to sing now,'  
  
As he said that, a huge rip appeared along the brim of the hat.  
  
"Once upon a time, there were warriors of four  
  
In the lands of old, filled with mystery  
  
They decided one day to open a school  
  
Thereby starting Hogwarts history  
  
Along with the school, came students anew  
  
And thus was born the houses of four  
  
From Slytherin to Hufflepuff  
  
From Ravenclaw to Gryffindor  
  
Each had their choice, each had their pick  
  
For instance, Gryffindor's pick of the bravest was stunning  
  
Those who portrayed best the lion  
  
Slytherin chose nothing less than those of absolute cunning  
  
Ah, wicked their ways, they may have been  
  
Meanwhile, Hufflepuff chose those who worked the hardest  
  
Those different to the house of green   
  
But Ravenclaw prized only those who were smartest  
  
Now for years these four worked in harmony  
  
Forever friends until they grew old  
  
Sadly this was not meant to be  
  
As tragedies would soon unfold  
  
First came the story of who would overlook  
  
The school when they were no longer there  
  
They need someone who would know best  
  
They needed someone fair  
  
In a second Gryffindor took me off his head  
  
And he enchanted me with a spell  
  
He gave me the brains and said me  
  
You will serve this school well  
  
Years after, struck the disaster  
  
Brought on by coy old Slytherin  
  
He wanted only those of blood so pure  
  
He wanted to expel those different from deep within  
  
But there was no difference, cried the noble three  
  
In the end, it was Slytherin who would leave  
  
But it was not the end, it was not over yet  
  
For eventually, Slytherin would deceive  
  
All the rest, he came with his chamber  
  
With a fate inside that was so cruel  
  
It was this fate that caused it all  
  
It's the reason I'm now on this stool  
  
So as the years passed, I've done my job  
  
I've divided all equally  
  
But now I find myself wondering  
  
Have I created more diversity?  
  
In this day and age, it's important to be united  
  
But my job I will continue to do  
  
But remember this; we have entered the darkest days  
  
And this now is my warning to you  
  
From deep within you must find your strength  
  
For it's the only thing to guide you through  
  
You must find it in your heart to forget  
  
And you must finally forgive everybody around you  
  
For only the unity ties can save you now  
  
Until the time for battle has come to  
  
I have given my advice here today  
  
And now the future is up to you  
  
And with that, the Sorting Hat fell silent. There was chill in the room following his words, and Harry suspected that the First-Years were more terrified than ever. Professor McGonagall pulled out a long scroll and called out the names. 'Annas, Stephan!'  
  
A boy, looking scared, went up to the Sorting Hat and placed it on his head. After a moment, it cried, 'Gryffindor!' Looking immensely relieved, he pulled off the Sorting Hat and put it back on the stool he was previously sitting on, and stumbled to the Gryffindor table.  
  
'Apreck, Richard!' Another boy walked forward, and sat on the stool, the Sorting Hat on his head.  
  
'Slytherin!' said the Sorting Hat after a few seconds.  
  
The next three students were Sorted into Ravenclaw, the next into Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff found its first new member in 'Gorrochi, Andreas!'  
  
Finally, just when Harry thought he was going to faint from hunger, Corea Zimblewell was placed in Slytherin. Dumbledore stood up, and smiled at his student, eyes glinting. 'Welcome one, welcome all,' he said. 'I have a few announcements to make—and it seems as though our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher has yet to arrive—so we shall wait until after the feast. Tuck in!'  
  
They were halfway through the feast, Harry occasionally talking to Seamus and a new Gryffindor, when the door to the Great Hall opened, and a fat figure stood there against the bright light. Harry winced, trying to see who it was, but he couldn't be defined. The figure closed the door, only to reveal that it was Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic. Harry's jaw dropped.  
  
Fudge didn't look at him or any of the other students, instead making his way to the teachers table. His heart sinking, Harry came to one realization, but it was impossible. His doubts were dispelled, however, when Dumbledore stood up. 'If I may tear your attention away from the feast for a minute,' he said, not seeming to realize that everyone was staring in Fudge instead of the food before them already, 'I would like you to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, Professor Fudge,'  
  
Only the teachers didn't seem shocked by this piece of information, but they didn't clap, nor did any of the students. There was complete and utter silence all around. 'Blimey,' Harry heard Ron whisper, a meatball dropping out of his mouth, and back on the plate in front of him. Hermione was pale, and Seamus looked stunned. Harry could see that the Slytherins and most of the teachers were watching Fudge with narrowed eyes.  
  
'Yes, well, you may return to your food now,' said Dumbledore, sitting down. He too, hadn't clapped for Fudge, as he usually did for the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. Fudge, avoiding their eyes, took his seat next to Professor Snape, who was sitting on Dumbledore's left (McGonagall was on his right). After the Feast was over, Dumbledore stood up again.  
  
'I would like,' he said, 'to extend my greeting to two new teachers to our ranks this year. Firstly, may I please have a round of applause for Professor Fudge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.' This time, everyone clapped except for the Slytherins who were watching Fudge defiantly, but the claps were half-hearted and stopped quickly. 'And may I also welcome Professor Grubbly-Plank, who, like Hagrid, will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures. She will, however, be teaching the Advanced and NEWT Courses, which are only available to the sixth and seventh years,'  
  
There was another round of half-hearted clapping, and after a glare from Ron, Hermione lowered her clapping to half-hearted too. 'Also, let it be known that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students, especially the First Years. A few of our older students would do well to remember that little fact too. In fact, failure to comply to this particular rule would result in gigantic proportions,'  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione shared an alarmed look at this. Was Dumbledore making a hint about Grawp? Why would he do that, with the Minister right beside him, when it was a well-known fact that Fudge considered giants as evil, uncontrollable brutes? 'Mr. Filch, our caretaker, also wishes me to inform the students that his list of banned objects has grown include "Weasley Wizard Wheezes", "Swamp Shockers", among other things. You may view the entire list in his office. Professor Flitwick has also kindly asked me to inform students to not go past the rope protecting the small bit of Swamp Shocker in his classroom, saying that it is a particularly stubborn part of the spell, and he still needs time to find out the perfect charm to get rid of it,' Dumbledore didn't look like he quite believed this, nor did any of the teachers, but didn't say anything, instead smiling softly to himself. 'Well, I do believe that that is all for tonight. You may go to your dormitories now, and rest up for tomorrow's lessons. Chop, chop,'  
  
The students got up from their seats, and Harry waited for Ron and Hermione to catch up to him. 'Do you think Fudge knows about Grawp?' asked Hermione worriedly.  
  
'I don't know, but if Malfoy find out—' began Harry.  
  
'What could he do?' interrupted Ron. 'His family has just been discredited, and his father has been kicked out of the Ministry. He has no power any more,'  
  
'Nor do half of the Slytherins,' said Hermione, casting a glance to Pansy Parkinson, who was talking angrily about something to Millicent Bulstrode.  
  
'There are plenty more out there, you know,' said Harry. 'Plenty more Death Eaters whom I haven't met, and don't know about,'  
  
'You said that Ludo Bagman was a Death Eater, didn't you?' asked Ron quietly. 'Do you think you should report him?'  
  
'I don't know,' said Harry. 'He's still on the run from the goblins, I expect. Probably in hiding,'  
  
'What I want to know is, why is the Minister here,' said Hermione. The students parted at the stairwells, going into their respective houses. As the Slytherins went down towards the dungeons where their house was, the Gryffindors went upstairs. 'Being a politician is a full-time job. Surely he doesn't think that he will have the time to teach us Defense as well as run the Ministry?'  
  
'If the Ministry is trying to push more representatives,' said Harry, 'why would Fudge choose to be it?'  
  
'Maybe he wants to make sure that nothing happens to you,' suggested Ron.  
  
'No, no. That isn't it,' Harry shook his head. 'He knows that Hogwarts is the safest place from Voldemort—' Ron winced, '—since Dumbledore is the Headmaster. And if he was really worried, he could have sent someone. No, he's here on a personal vendetta, I'm sure of it,'  
  
Ron opened his mouth to say something to Harry, but was cut off by Hermione. 'Oh, no,' she cried. 'We're supposed to be leading the Gryffindors! I'm sure half of the students are waiting for the password already,'  
  
'Blimey, you're right!' said Ron. 'Sorry, Harry, mate. Got to run,'  
  
'As if I can't keep up,' said Harry sarcastically. Ron blushed.  
  
'Oh, right,' he said sheepishly. The three of them broke into a run, weaving past the students. There was a massive jam at the portrait of the Fat Lady, and they could hear her tell someone, 'No, you can't enter without a password. I'm sorry, but it is against the rules.' There was a pause, and Harry guessed that a student was trying to reason with her. 'Well, then you'll have to sleep out here tonight, won't you? I'm sorry, but it is more than my job—or my life's—worth to allow you to enter without the password,'  
  
'Here,' panted Hermione as she and Ron raced up to her. 'B—Boomslang skin,'  
  
The portrait swung open, and the students, grumbling the whole time, clambered in. Hermione was standing by, apologizing profusely as they walked past her into the common room. Finally, the three of them entered. 'Well, goodnight then,' she said, walking up the girl's staircase and up to her room. Harry and Ron bade her goodbye and went up to their room as well. Seamus, Dean and Neville were there, unpacking. Seamus was shirtless, in his boxers, hanging up his school uniform and robes up for the next day. Dean was still fully-dressed, and Neville was in his pajamas. Harry took a moment to appreciate the definition of Seamus's chest and stomach. His legs were sprinkled with little blond hairs, and Harry could see a trail from his stomach leading into his boxers. He was surprised to feel a stirring in his pants.  
  
'Hey, Harry,' Seamus greeted.  
  
'Hey,' Harry nodded, turning his eyes away. Neville was giving him a strange look, but no one else seemed to have noticed. Changing, Harry climbed into bed. Ron and Seamus did the same, and Dean was just getting changed. He turned off the lights, and got into bed. Harry closed his eyes and felt himself drifting away …  
  
He was in the Department of Mysteries, trapped in the room with the many doors. It was spinning around him, and he could hear Sirius's voice, but it was raspy, as though he hadn't had anything to drink for a while. 'It's there, Harry, it's there … help me …'  
  
How? Harry wanted to ask. How can I help you?  
  
But he couldn't form the words. Sirius kept telling him that it was there, without ever telling him what "it" was. As the room continued to swirl, Harry felt like he was going mad. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to scream.  
  
And suddenly, it was over. He was back in his room in Hogwarts, and it took his a while to realize that he had awoken. He saw Ron slumbering in the bed next to him, his form rising and falling with his breaths. Seamus's drapes were closed, and Harry wondered why, when it was a rather warm night, but he didn't ponder over it. As he lay there in bed, waiting for sleep, a voice haunted him. He could hear it clearly, as though the person was standing right next to him. Sirius.  
  
'Harry, it's there … help me …' 


	4. Chapter Four

The Problems of Percy  
  
   
  
   
  
    Harry could tell, the moment he woke up, that it was not going to be a good day. He had fallen asleep three hours previously after he had heard Sirius's voice, only to be woken up by Seamus Finnigan shaking him furiously. 'Oi! Classes start in half an hour!'  
  
   
  
    Harry groaned, but got up anyway. Seamus handed him a slip of paper. 'What's this?' he asked.  
  
   
  
    'Sixth year timetable,' said Seamus. Harry inspected it.  
  
   
  
    'Oh, no,' he groaned. 'Defense Against the Dark Arts is first period,'  
  
   
  
    'What's wrong with that?' Seamus asked. 'That's your best subject, mate,'  
  
   
  
    'Remember Professor Umbridge?' Harry reminded darkly. 'This is her boss. Chances are, Fudge will make us read another book about how to stand as still as possible while someone's about to hex you with a Killing Curse, just like Umbridge did,'  
  
   
  
    'Yes, but things are different now,' said Seamus. 'Everyone knows that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back,'  
  
   
  
    Harry remembered painfully how Seamus had accused him of being a lunatic, a year ago, and didn't comment, instead grabbing his clothes and his robes. He dashed into the showers and sighed as the warm water splayed over his naked body. After soaping and rinsing, he dried off and pulled on his uniform and robes and ran down to the Great Hall.  Ron and Hermione were just getting up when Harry sped into the Hall. 'There you are!' Hermione exclaimed. 'Did Seamus give you your timetable?'  
  
   
  
    'Yes,' panted Harry, clutching a stitch at his side. 'Defense—first—period,'  
  
   
  
    'Followed by Double Potions,' said Ron. 'Oh, and McGonagall passed the sixth-years these notes…' he fumbled as he pulled out a somewhat wrinkled piece of paper out of his pocket. 'Here,' he pushed it into Harry's hand.  
  
   
  
    'All sixth-years are to be reminded to attend every class on their schedule for the first week. At the end of classes on Friday, students are to find their Head of House to tell them which classes they intend to take, and which classes they intend to drop,' Harry read. 'Perfect, now I can drop Care of Magical Creatures without seeming biased,'  
  
   
  
    'Do you think that it would be a good idea?' Hermione asked, as they headed to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. 'I mean, you plan on being an Auror, don't you? Suppose that you have to investigate some creature, and you don't have the proper training?'  
  
   
  
    'Nah,' Ron shook his head. 'The Ministry of Magic has the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures to take care of that. And if worse come to worse, they'll call the Department of Mysteries in on it too,'  
  
   
  
    'Don't talk about the Department of Mysteries,' Harry ordered.  
  
   
  
    'Sorry,' Ron apologized. They went in, and saw Fudge, in his lime-green suit, and matching bowler hat, sitting at the teacher's table. The Gryffindors ambled in, and Fudge smiled at them.  
  
   
  
    'Ah, yes. The Hufflepuffs—'  
  
   
  
    'Actually, sir, we're Gryffindors,' said Lavender Brown.  
  
   
  
    Fudge caught sight of Harry, and hastened to correct his mistake. 'Oh, yes, of course, my mistake. The Gryffindors. I've heard so many…lovely stories about you. Ms. Umbridge told me about how two of you turned a corridor in the school into a swamp,'  
  
   
  
    'Actually,' interrupted Ron, 'those were my brothers, Fred and George. They graduated last year.' At his words, the Gryffindors grinned. Fred and George had never actually bothered to hang around Hogwarts long enough to graduate, having escaped on their brooms during their final term. The Gryffindors took their seats, and Fudge went to the board.  
  
   
  
    'Today,' he announced, 'we shall study Hinkypunks—'  
  
   
  
    'Please, sir,' Hermione's hand shot into the air, 'we've already covered Hinkypunks in our third year with Professor Lupin,'  
  
   
  
    'Of course you have,' Fudge said with an insincere smile. 'I meant to say that we would be covering the … er Flame Hex—'  
  
   
  
    Hermione's hand, which had gone almost completely down, shot straight back up into the air again. 'We've already covered that in our fourth year with Professor Moody,' she informed.  
  
   
  
    'What about…' Fudge consulted his handbook, 'werewolves?'  
  
   
  
    'Done,' the class chorused.  
  
   
  
    'Fine!' Fudge snapped. 'Would anyone care to tell me what exactly this class has covered,'  
  
   
  
    'Nothing much in our first year,' Hermione said at once. 'And we studied a lot during our second, but we only did a practical course of Cornish pixies. In our third year, we covered Hinkypunks, Kappas, vampires, Boggarts, Grindylows, and werewolves, among others. In our fourth year, we were taught the Flame Hex, and most importantly, the Unforgivable Curses,'  
  
   
  
    Fudge appeared stunned.  
  
   
  
    'I see,' he cleared his throat. 'Well…' he shifted through his book, 'what about the Kronirus Demon? No, no, that's too hard. And The Onirus is out … ah, here's a good one: The Centaurs!'  
  
   
  
    Dead silence greeted this. 'How are Centaurs Dark Creatures?' asked  Dean Thomas. The students personally knew a centaur by the name of Firenze. Firenze had been kicked out of his herd last year when he agreed to take up the post of Divination after Professor Trelawney had been sacked by Professor Umbridge. He currently resided in the castle.  
  
   
  
    'Don't be fooled, Mr … er …'  
  
   
  
    'Thomas,' said Dean coldly.  
  
   
  
    'Mr. Thomas. Centaurs can be very dangerous creatures. They consider themselves above the law, and have been a constant menace to society. They believe that they can see the future or some codswallop—'  
  
   
  
    'Only because they can!' Parvati Patil interrupted angrily. 'We have a centaur as a Divination teacher!'  
  
   
  
    Fudge looked taken aback, but composed himself quite quickly. 'Oho! And how long has this been going on?'  
  
   
  
    'He joined the staff last year,' said Neville Longbottom.   
  
   
  
    'The nerve of Dumbledore! Hiring a centaur without consulting the Ministry. They are dangerous half-breeds, and he should have notified the Department of the Regulation of Magical Creatures, at the very least,' Fudge raged.   
  
   
  
    And so the rest of the class continued in this fashion. Fudge seized every opportunity he had to drag Dumbledore's name into the dirt, although Harry couldn't understand why. Dumbledore had already shown Fudge proof that Voldemort was back, and had proven that he had no desire to become the next Minister for Magic. 'He's the worst one we've had yet!' roared Ron when they walked out of class. Everyone was complaining indignantly about Fudge.  
  
   
  
    'What's our next class?' asked Harry.  
  
   
  
    Ron checked his schedule and groaned. 'Double Potions,' he said.  
  
   
  
    They headed for the dungeons, and lined up. The Slytherins joined them shortly afterward, and they were laughing unpleasantly about something. Harry heard them mention Flitwick, the Charms teacher, and wondered what had happened in class that was so humorous. 'Settle down, settle down,' came the cold voice of Professor Snape, as he came up to them. He opened the door to the Potions classroom, and they went in. 'Well, well, here we all are again,' he sneered. 'I notice that this class is considerably smaller than it was last year,'  
  
   
  
    Harry saw that Snape was taking a grim satisfaction in the absence of Neville and Lavender and Dean. There were a few Slytherins gone too, most noticeably Crabbe and Goyle. 'Now, this sudden change is—hard—on everyone, and I think a new set of partners would be appropriate. I will now call out your names and pair you with your new partner for the rest of the year.  
  
   
  
    'Potter, Malfoy. Weasley, Nott, Granger, Parkinson, Patil, Bulstrode…' and he continued to pair them up this way. In the end, every Slytherin was paired with a Gryffindor, but there were slightly more Slytherins than Gryffindors, so the remainders were paired with each other.  
  
   
  
    'Potter, I notice you didn't bring your pet puppy to the train station this year,' Malfoy said quietly. 'What's the matter. Did you lose him?' he let out a nasty laugh. 'Or did he die of old age?'  
  
   
  
    'Shut up, Malfoy,' Harry muttered, careful not to let Snape hear him or see his lips moving. Draco, however, took no notice. Throughout the class, he kept making snide remarks about Sirius as Harry chopped up his dead octopus for the potions.  Finally, he could take no more, and flung the octopi head at Malfoy.  
  
   
  
    'POTTER!' roared Snape. 'What is going on?'  
  
   
  
    'He hit me with this, sir,' Malfoy said at once.  
  
   
  
    'No one asked you, Malfoy!' Harry snapped. Malfoy was about to retort, when Snape interrupted.  
  
   
  
    'Ten points from Gryffindor, Potter, and if you do anything of this nature again, it will be fifty,' he said, turning back to the front of the class. Malfoy smirked. Harry glared at his arch-enemy, and without a second though, flung another head at him.  
  
   
  
    'PROFESSOR SNAPE!'  
  
   
  
    'POTTER!' hollered Snape. 'DO YOU HAVE SOME CONDITION THAT PREVENTS YOUR COMPREHENSION OF MY WORDS? You are to stay back after class so I decide your punishment!'  
  
   
  
    So Harry was forced to endure the rest of the class in silence when Malfoy taunted him. As soon as class ended, everyone rushed out, and Harry noticed Malfoy walking extra-slowly, clearly hoping to hear what would happen. 'So,' said Snape in a dangerously low voice, 'disobeying my orders, are you?'  
  
   
  
    'He insulted Sirius!' said Harry heatedly.  
  
   
  
    'A worthy way to pass the time,' said Snape coolly, 'but that is not the point,'  
  
   
  
    'Yes, it is!' said Harry.  
  
   
  
    'Don't talk back to me, Potter,' Snape ordered. 'Black is gone, and you have to accept that sooner or later,'  
  
   
  
    'Sirius saved the Order,' Harry said in gritted teeth. 'If Voldemort—'  
  
   
  
    'I will tell you one last time, Potter, don't say the Dark Lord's name,' hissed Snape.  
  
   
  
    'I will say whatever I damn like,' Harry spat. 'You can fail me in every exam if you like, but you're not going to stop me from protecting Sirius, or from saying Voldemort's name.' Snape stared at him in shock, and Harry stomped out of the room.  
  
   
  
    'Potter!' he called. 'Come back right now. We still have to discuss your punishment!' But Harry didn't stay back.  
  
*  
  
   
  
    'A moment please, Potter,' Professor McGonagall said after Transfiguration class that morning. 'I'd like to talk to you about something,'  
  
   
  
    'Listen, Professor, I know you think that I was out of line with Professor Snape …'  
  
   
  
    'This isn't about Professor Snape, this is about the Defense Association,' said Professor McGonagall.  
  
   
  
    'Oh,'  
  
   
  
    'Yes. Now, look Potter, I know that there is some competition going on between the houses, but I want you to put your rivalry aside for this. As the Sorting Hat said, nothing is more important than school unity now,'  
  
   
  
    'What exactly are you getting at, Professor?' inquired Harry. She silently handed him a sheet of paper. Harry took it and saw immediately that it was a list of Slytherin students who had joined up for the class. He also saw that Draco Malfoy's name was at the top of the list.  
  
   
  
    'Professor, I can't,' he protested. 'With Voldemort back, you know that the Slytherin's are destined to become Death Eaters, and this would only give them ammunition to use against us and probably the Ministry in the future,'  
  
   
  
    'Potter, you aren't teaching the students anything they wont learn in due time anyway,' said McGonagall. 'Unity. That's what is most important. If you feel that you can't teach the DA anymore, then we shall have to assign a proper teacher to lead the class,'  
  
   
  
    'No!' Harry exclaimed. 'No, I'll do it,'  
  
   
  
    'I thought so,' McGonagall smiled.  
  
   
  
    'But Professor, you cant ignore the fact that the former Slytherins have joined Voldemort,' said Harry. 'That's why the world is in such a panic in the first place. If Voldemort was on his own, he couldn't do much. Everyone knows that the Slytherins are evil,'  
  
   
  
    McGonagall took in a deep breath. 'At such times of danger,' she said, 'we have to look beyond stereotypical bonds and the events of the past. Professor Dumbledore is convinced that the Slytherins, if given the chance, are able to change. And I haven't been present on an occasion when Dumbledore made a mistake,'  
  
   
  
    'I have,' said Harry softly, but he didn't think that McGonagall heard.  
  
   
  
    'One lesson,' she said. 'If you still feel uncomfortable about teaching the Slytherins, then I shall talk to Dumbledore,'  
  
   
  
    'Fine,' Harry agreed. 'One lesson.' He turned to go.  
  
   
  
    'One more thing, Potter,' called McGonagall, 'I have scheduled your first of two Career Advice for this Thursday, and I expect a list of what you're thinking of becoming in the future then. After I guide you through it, I want you to hand me a list of the subjects you're taking,'  
  
   
  
    'Yes, Professor,' Harry nodded.  
  
   
  
    'You may go,'  
  
   
  
*  
  
   
  
    'I'm free after lunch,' Harry consulted his timetable. 'What about you two?'  
  
   
  
    'I expect I am,' said Ron. 'I asked Parvati, and she said that we have Divination after lunch, and I got a Dreadful on it for my OWLs,'  
  
   
  
    'I have Rune Studies with the Ravenclaws,' informed Hermione. 'I hear Lorena Nott is in that class,'  
  
   
  
    'Never thought I'd see the day a Nott wasn't in Slytherin,' said Ron. 'Do you think her father is a Death Eater?'  
  
   
  
    'As far as I know, there's only one Nott in Voldemort's league, and that's the father of the one in Slytherin,' said Harry.  
  
   
  
    'Well, I'm sure Lorena is going to be a step up from Luna Lovegood,' Hermione sniffed. 'Honestly, that girl is going to sit for her OWLs this year, and she's still going on about Devil-Horned Potpourri—'  
  
   
  
    'Devil-Tailed Poru-Poru,' corrected Ron.  
  
   
  
    'Whatever,' said Hermione crossly. 'My point is, she needs to shape up, and quick,'  
  
   
  
    She turned to Harry.  
  
   
  
    'What did Professor Snape say?'  
  
   
  
    Harry took a drink of his pumpkin juice. 'Sirius,' he said vaguely.  
  
   
  
    'Did he really? He didn't give you a detention? Or I would have thought that he wanted to talk to you in private about Occlumency,'  
  
   
  
    'He swore to never teach it to me ever again last year,' Harry reminded.  
  
   
  
    'Is he still angry about that?' asked Ron. 'You would have thought that he would have gotten over it by now,'  
  
   
  
    'Well, he hasn't,' Harry sighed heavily. 'Good riddance,'  
  
   
  
    'You mustn't talk that way,' chastised Hermione. 'Occlumency is an invaluable experience for you. You do want to block out Voldemort—oh, come off it, Ron—don't you?'  
  
   
  
    'Not really,' said Harry. 'Without Sirius, I really don't have anything else to lose, anyway,'  
  
   
  
    He didn't see the hurt looks on Ron and Hermione's faces.  
  
   
  
    'Anyway,' he continued, 'Dumbledore practically gave license to stop. Last term, he said my heart protected me or something like that,'  
  
   
  
    'Harry,' said Hermione severely, 'it's not a good idea to stop now. Voldemort knows that you can see him, and he could use it to control you. I read up on Legilimency this summer, and it's very dangerous to the victim. If used too long, he could suffer severe brain damage,'  
  
   
  
    'Yes, well, I'm not too concerned,' Harry said to her. 'Voldemort knows what the risk is, and he wouldn't dare make me insane, not if the prophecy says—' he stopped short. Ron and Hermione turned to stare at him.  
  
   
  
    'Harry,' said Ron in an amazed voice. 'You know what the prophecy says? How? I thought you broke it in the Department of Mysteries,'  
  
   
  
    'I did,' Harry said. He had never told Ron and Hermione the contents of the prophecy, and he didn't intend to now. 'I don't know what the prophecy says. Said.'  
  
   
  
    'Oh, come off it,' said Hermione. 'You were just about to tell us. Why have you been keeping this a secret from us?'  
  
   
  
    'Because,' said Harry, knowing that the game was up, 'it's not a … it's not something you want to hear,'  
  
   
  
    'We're not children,' Ron said quietly.  
  
   
  
    'This doesn't concern you!' Harry said, feeling anger take control of him. 'And you should feel pretty lucky that it doesn't. But no, you want to get involved. Of course, this means that you can be a part of all the aspects of my life, without any consideration about how I feel about it!'  
  
   
  
    There was a tense silence, and Harry felt relieved he hadn't started screaming at them. The last thing he needed was to have the school, especially Malfoy, alerted about what he was going through. 'Sorry,' Hermione said finally in a small voice. She checked her watch. 'I have to go now,' and she got up and left the Great Hall.  
  
   
  
    Ron didn't seem to know where to look, so he settled for the enchanted ceiling. 'I think I'll use this time to practice on my Quidditch,'  
  
   
  
    'I'll come with you,' said Harry, remembering suddenly about telling Ron that he was going to dedicate all his free time to catching up. Ron nodded, and hurried out, not bothering to wait for Harry. Well, that suited him just fine. Hoisting his bag onto his shoulder, he went out the Hall, amidst the laughter and chatter around him.   
  
   
  
*  
  
   
  
    Madam Hooch had probably been asked to oversee all activity on the Quidditch pitch. 'You'll have to clear off after an hour, though,' she had warned. 'The First-Years have Broom-Flying next,' Harry remembered all too well his Broom-Flying class in the first year, when he had proven to McGonagall just what a talented flier he was, and agreed to make it quick.  
  
   
  
    After flying for a while and throwing Quaffles at Ron, who seemed to have improved a bit, Harry had agreed to have the Snitch let out. After tossing the Quaffle two more times and giving the Snitch a two-minute head start, Harry raced after it on his Firebolt. Accelerating, he caught it in his hand within seconds. 'Yes!' Ron cheered. Harry patted his loyal broom, and felt a jolt of displeasure remembering who had sent it to him. No more of that, he told himself. He couldn't think of Sirius. He wouldn't think of Sirius. He refused to.  
  
   
  
    After a few more practices, Madam Hooch ordered them to stop. 'The First-Years will be here in five minutes,' she called.  
  
   
  
    'Right, Madam Hooch,' said Harry, the Firebolt taking him down to the ground. Ron did the same.  
  
   
  
    They spied the First-Years making their way to the Quidditch pitch, and hastened to leave, but as they passed a shrub, Harry paused, seeing something move. 'Wait,' he whispered to Ron. Ron stopped.  
  
   
  
    'What's up?'  
  
   
  
    'That bush,' Harry pointed to it. Ron's eyes trained on it.  
  
   
  
    'Yeah …' he said uncertainly, drawing his wand out. It moved again.  
  
   
  
    'Don't you see it moving?' asked Harry. Ron stared at him, then back at the bush. It moved again.  
  
   
  
    'I don't see anything, Harry,' Ron said after a minute. Harry gaped at him.  
  
   
  
    Pointing his own wand, he said, 'Reducto!'   
  
   
  
    The shrub burned a wide hole, but there was nothing hiding there. 'Is it a Thestral?' asked Ron tentatively. 'Is it close?'  
  
   
  
    'No, it's not a Thestral,' Harry shook his head. 'There's nothing there.' He looked at Ron, feeling scared. 'Ron … am I going crazy?'  
  
   
  
    'No!' Ron exclaimed. 'Of course you're not, Harry!'  
  
   
  
    Harry felt on the verge of tears, although he would never tell Ron that. However, when he spoke, his voice had a desperate edge to it. 'Then what's wrong with me? I keep having dreams and visions, and I keep hearing Sirius,'  
  
   
  
    'What?' Ron asked in a surprised tone. 'You—you hear Sirius?'  
  
   
  
    Harry nodded. 'In the past, and now. He's calling out to me, Ron. I think he wants me to help him, but I don't know how,'  
  
   
  
    Ron looked as though he wanted to say something, but didn't.   
  
   
  
*  
  
   
  
    The next day was much better than the previous. Harry and Ron had discovered that they had their first Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Grubbly-Plank. Though she was fair, she tended to side with the girls more than the boys, and Harry couldn't bear to go to class and not have it taught by Hagrid. The Slytherins, however, were beside themselves with glee. 'I hear that the Ministry told Dumbledore to make sure that that oaf didn't teach the NEWT Course,' Malfoy said loudly to Pansy Parkinson when the class started. 'They seemed to think that it was too important to let him mess around with it,'  
  
   
  
    'Ignore them,' Hermione said quietly to Harry and Ron. 'Just ignore them,'  
  
   
  
    'Granger! Parkinson!' Grubbly-Plank called. 'What are you still hanging around there for? Hurry up,' and Hermione and Pansy had gone to inspect the Licosa that she had brought from the Forbidden Forest. The boys were due to see them after the girls had, and Malfoy took the opportunity to taunt them without Hermione around.  
  
   
  
    'Better watch out, Malfoy,' Ron had ended up threatening. 'I see that Crabbe and Goyle are nowhere around. An even easier chance for us to hex you. Not that we don't do it every year,'  
  
   
  
    'Yes, Malfoy,' Harry added. 'Where are your two goons? Couldn't their parents find a way to reverse the jinxes we hit them with on the train?'  
  
   
  
    'I don't think the Malfoys' were too successful either, Harry,' said Ron. 'I still see a bit of slug in his face,'  
  
   
  
    'Really, Ron?' Harry's eyes were trained maliciously on Malfoy's. 'I see a bit of ferret,'  
  
   
  
    Malfoy didn't seem to know how to answer to this, and his hand slithered down to grip his wand tightly. Harry and Ron did the same. 'Boys!' Grubbly-Plank called suddenly. 'It's your turn,'  
  
   
  
    Harry and Ron, along with Seamus and Neville, marched to the Licosa, talking. 'Why aren't Crabbe and Goyle in Hogwarts anymore, though?' Ron asked Harry quietly. 'They weren't on the train either, remember?'  
  
   
  
    'Yeah,' Harry whispered. 'You think they were expelled?'  
  
   
  
    'We can only hope,' Seamus joined in the conversation. 'But what if they were taken out to become Death Eaters?'  
  
   
  
    'No way,' Harry and Ron said at once. 'Malfoy would have been the first to go, if that were the case,' Harry explained. 'Lucius Malfoy is hard-up to impress Voldemort—' the three boys winced, 'and he would have definitely taken his son first,'  
  
   
  
    'Hw do we know the Slytherins haven't already been made into Death Eaters?' Neville asked. 'Gran says that they have the Dark Mark imprinted somewhere hidden,'  
  
   
  
    'It's on their arm,' Harry informed. 'I should know. But there's no way to tell unless the sleeves of Malfoy's robes slip down a little,' They reached the Licosa, little green colored insects, they flew around in circles.  
  
   
  
    'Now, can anyone tell me what the Licosas are mainly used for?' asked Grubbly-Plank. No one answered, as the girls had moved back after their observation, and Hermione wasn't around to answer for them. Grubbly-Plank sighed. 'Take out your notebooks and quills,' she ordered, 'and listen to me. The Licosa Insecta—or Licosas for short—are used to take away burns. Their wings are extremely precious and are used as potion-making ingredients. From Licosa wings, you can make the Drought of Sleeping Death, and the Counter-Burn Potion. It is also used for Confusion Potions. Naturally, Confusion Potions are much stronger than Confusion Charms, but it takes three days to make. Are you getting all of this?'  
  
   
  
    'Yes,' chorused the boys, as they wrote down her words.  
  
   
  
    'Good. Does anyone know what Licosas metamorphose into?' There was no answer. 'Very well, copy it down. Licosas metamorph into Lycosas, which we will be seeing next lesson. Licosas are born underwater, but when they gain use of their wings, they can no longer survive there, so they surface. This is why Lycosas die after giving birth, as they have to go underwater to lay their eggs,' After the scribbling had finished, Grubbly-Plank checked her watch. 'Very well, time is up. You may go to your next class. Tell the girls that they may leave too,'  
  
   
  
    'Well, that wasn't too bad, now was it?' asked Hermione brightly, as she trudged back to the castle along with Harry and Ron. 'I learned loads. Licosas are really useful, don't you think?'  
  
   
  
    'I suppose,' said Harry. 'But I'm still going to drop the class,' They had Charms next, and thankfully, they did not share the class with the Slytherins. Professor Flitwick greeted them with open arms.  
  
   
  
    'Welcome back to your sixth year. I don't think I have to tell you that during the next two years in Hogwarts, you're going to have to work, work, work! Now, we're going to start of today with Minimal Charms. And after Christmas, we shall proceed on to Patronus Charms. Though I daresay that some of you have already mastered the art, thanks to Mr. Potter here,' he winked at Harry. 'Now, the Patronus is a very complicated charm, and not everyone will be able to do them. Many wizards out of school today still have trouble achieving a corporeal Patronus, so keep practicing. Patronus-training, due to recent events, will continue straight until your seventh year, and may I just add, that it is a definite topic that will come out for your NEWTs. So, let's get cracking!  
  
   
  
    'Everybody take your wand, and copy me,' he took his wand, and did a complicated bit of twirling. 'Parvus!'   
  
   
  
    The students took their wands and did the same complicated twirl, and everyone except for Neville, for he had dropped his wand, cried, 'Parvus!'  
  
   
  
    'Excellent!' Flitwick squeaked. 'Mr. Finnigan, please hand out these apples to all the students,' Seamus did so, and Fitwick continued, 'Now everyone, do what you just did,'  
  
   
  
    They spent the hour trying to do so. Hermione had completed her task within five minutes, and was watching Harry and Ron try theirs with an amused expression. 'Parus!' Ron shouted on his fourth try. 'I—I mean Parvus!' Harry kept doing the twirl, and saying the spell, but nothing happened.  
  
   
  
    'You're twirling it wrong,' said Hermione. 'And Ron, you're saying the wrong word,'  
  
   
  
    'I know,' Ron snarled as Flitwick passed them to see how they were doing. He immediately seized Hermione's apple, which was a fifth of the size it originally was.  
  
   
  
    'Ah,' he said. 'Class, may I have your attention. This is what your apple should look like. It's been—Miss Kolaris, I saw that. Don't think that eating your apple is the same as minimizing it—minimized. Mr. Potter, you're not doing the twirl correctly, let me show you. Mr. Thomas, if you try to throw that apple to Mr. Finnigan again, I shall give you a detention. Here, Potter, it goes like this,' and he took Harry's wand and twirled it. 'Now you go,'  
  
   
  
    Harry twirled it just the way Flitwick did. 'Parvus!'  
  
   
  
    The apple shrunk down to the size of Hermione's.  
  
   
  
    'Excellent,' Professor Flitwick clapped his hands. 'Mr. Weasley, it's Parvus, not Porous. Try again,' When Ron, after two more tries, managed to accomplish it, Flitwick patted him on the back and moved on. Seamus Finnigan was so angry that his apple hadn't shrunk, he accidentally set it on fire.  
  
'I swear I don't know how that happened,' he was telling Professor Flitwick over and over, as the flames enveloped the apple. 'I didn't even use my wand, I don't know how …'  
  
'Now, now, Mr. Finnigan,' said Flitwick reassuringly. 'These things happen. We must have a grip on our emotions in the future, however,'  
  
'Yes, sir,' Seamus replied.  
  
After that, they were to head down to the dungeons for Potions again for class with the Slytherins. Professor Snape seemed to have taken Harry's words about failing him to heart. No matter how hard Harry tried, Snape would always find something wrong with the potion, giving him an excuse to mark a zero. 'A word of advice, Potter,' he said during class that day. 'If you still cannot thicken a simple potion by now, I suggest that you drop the class at the end of the week and save all of us the humiliation. Zero marks,'  
  
'Git,' Ron had said after class. 'Blaise Zabini's potion was much thinner than yours, and Snape didn't deduct any marks,'  
  
'Don't you worry, Harry,' Hermione consoled. 'Snape won't be marking the NEWTs, and your grades for classes wont be checked for your job. Only the NEWT results,'  
  
'You're not going to drop it, are you?' asked Ron.  
  
'And give Snape the satisfaction of knowing that I wont be an Auror if I do? No way,' said Harry vehemently.  
  
After lunch, they were to go for their first Herbology class. 'Now,' said Professor Sprout, 'we're heading over to Greenhouse Five today, and I have to warn you to be very careful. Today, we're going to observe the Illumine Cactus. Can anyone tell me where it can be found?'  
  
Neville and Hermione's hand shot up at once. 'Mr. Longbottom?' Sprout addressed her favorite Gryffindor.  
  
'The Illumine Cactus is the only cactus in the world that can live underwater,' said Neville. 'It lives very deep down, where light can't penetrate. Because of this, it needs to produce its own light,'  
  
'Exactly right,' Sprout nodded. 'Five points to Gryffindor. Now, what does the Illumine Cactus look like?'  
  
Again, Neville and Hermione raced to answer. 'When exposed to light, it's white in color,' Neville said when Professor Sprout allowed him to answer. 'Underwater, though, it's golden, because of the light it illuminates,'  
  
'Five more points to Gryffindor,' Sprout nodded. 'So, if we want to see the Illumine Cactus in gold, what is the apparatus we need to use, as we can't go underwater?'  
  
This time, only Hermione raised her hand. 'Well, to start off, we'll need a tank filed with water to contain the cactus,' she said. 'And to produce darkness, we could wrap black paper around it, causing it to illuminate,'  
  
'Five points to Gryffindor,' said Professor Sprout. 'So, lets go in, and mind that you don't touch the Mercury Fly-Traps. They're beginning to teeth,'  
  
'Doesn't she mean Venus Fly-Traps?' Harry asked.  
  
'Oh, no,' Hermione shook her head. 'Mercury Fly-Traps are much more dangerous. The teeth close down on the fly, and it kills it with heat before eating it. Since Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, wizards name it after that,' Greenhouse Five was the most interesting greenhouse Harry had entered. It hung with evil-looking plants. Harry got the chance to see a Mercury Fly-Trap in action when a dragonfly flew into it's mouth. When the teeth snapped shut, Harry could see steam escaping from the corners of it's mouth. He turned his attention back to Professor Sprout. They were before a big tank filled with water, and the students could see five big white cacti in there.  
  
'Here you see what they look like exposed to light,' Sprout was saying. 'Illumine Cacti can't live for when there is sunlight. This is due to the sudden change in light, and it shocks the system. That's why we have to darken it quickly.' With a flick of her wand, the black paper next to the tank flew and wrapped itself neatly around the tank. Within seconds, they could see the cacti again, but it was glowing gold.  
  
They spent the rest of the lesson discussing the uses of the Illumine Cacti.  
  
'Well, it's not too bad,' said Ron, as they trudged back up to the castle for Transfiguration. 'We didn't have to go around in the dirt or anything. I reckon they're going easy on us because it's the first week,'  
  
'Easy?' asked Harry incredulously. 'Do you realize that in just two days, we've learned about Licosas, Weakening Solutions, Minimizing Charms, and Illumine Cacti? I was just shocked that McGonagall didn't start anything,'  
  
'Yes, well, you don't really expect them to go easy on us, do you?' asked Hermione. 'Especially you, Harry. You really need to buck up. You got through Herbology by the skin of your teeth. You're lucky that Professor Sprout accepts people with a Poor and higher,'  
  
'You'll have to forgive me. I was distracted by the though of losing Hagrid, meeting his half-brother, the other OWLs and wondering what Voldemort was up to,' said Harry darkly. Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when Ron shot her a drop-it look.  
  
*  
  
'Today, class, we shall be studying Marble Transformations,' said McGonagall. 'Now, be warned, Marble Transformations is one of the hardest branches of Transfigurations there is. However, as it is bound to come out for your NEWTs, I am eager to give you as much practice as I possibly can,'  
  
Hermione's hand shot up. 'Exactly how hard is it? How is it different from the other topics?'  
  
'Well, for one, Miss Granger, it is not the flick of the wand that matters so much in this topic. It depends more on the emphasis of the word. The pronunciation needs to be exact. Therefore, I don't expect all you to get it on your first try. As a matter of fact, I don't expect anyone to get it during this lesson. Even Professor Dumbledore, when he was your age, had trouble with it. True, he managed to complete it by his second Transfiguration class, but that it besides the point.  
  
'Now, raise you wands, flick it gently—gently, now—and say Marmor!'  
  
'Marmor!' the class shouted, flicking their wands.  
  
'No, no, you are not saying it correctly. Emphasize on the "r" in "Mar",' she instructed.  
  
'Marrrrrrmor!' they said again.  
  
'Better, but not quite correct,' McGonagall shook her head. 'Let us try again. As I said, pronunciation is extremely relevant. You're saying the "r" a little too much now. Emphasize deeply on it, but make it quick. Now, once again, and remember to flick,'  
  
By the end of the lesson, she had given them an assignment. 'Take your quills, and practice the Marble Transformation on it. By Friday, I will see what you have accomplished. Those of you who have a scheduled Career Advice with me today, don't forget. You will find me in my office. Dismissed.'  
  
Never had Harry been given such a hard task as homework before, but at least it was only Transfiguration. Defense Against the Dark Arts was next, a growing feeling of dread was in the pit of Harry's stomach. 'Oh, Harry,' called Fudge when they came in. Harry turned around, surprised that Fudge was on a first-name basis with him after all he had done to him last year. 'Just a quick reminder for you. Your Defense Association class is on Thursday at five,'  
  
'Yes, sir, I know,' said Harry coldly. 'Although I would prefer seven. The students should have their stomachs full before coming to class,'  
  
'Well, that isn't exactly up for you to decide,' said Fudge, rather uncomfortably. 'I think it would be safer. Before dark and all that,' It struck Harry how a man who spent a year of his life denying Voldemort's return, could become such a coward within the hallowed walls of Hogwarts. He went to his seat without a word, and Fudge started the lesson. 'Today, we shall learn about Hinkypunks,' he said.  
  
Hermione's hand went into the air at once. 'But sir—'  
  
'Today, we shall learn about Hinkypunks,' Fudge repeated in a firm voice. Hermione's hand went slowly down. As Fudge droned on and on, Harry started to tune out. It was going to be a long week.  
  
*  
  
Thursday came, and Harry found himself that afternoon before dinner in Professor McGonagall's private office. 'So, Potter,' she said, fingertips placed together, 'what have you decided on?'  
  
'An Auror,' said Harry. 'I mean, during the summer, I wasn't quite sure, but I am now. I really like Defense Against the Dark Arts … or rather, I liked Defense Against the Dark Arts, until Fudge and that Umbridge woman came,'  
  
'I understand how you feel, Potter,' McGonagall nodded. 'And while I don't like to speak ill of the Minister—' her lips seemed to thin, '—I'm afraid Hogwarts has seen better days, and unless the Ministry stops trying to force their representatives through, we may never see a decent Defense teacher again. And that could pose some very serious threats to your ambition,'  
  
'I don't see why they're doing it,' said Harry angrily. 'I would have thought that with Voldemort back, the Ministry would need more Aurors on their side, but that's not going to happen unless they give us someone competent,'  
  
'The Minister for Magic is … a very paranoid man,' said McGonagall. 'Even now, with dark times ahead, he's afraid of losing his position, unaware that the higher in position in politics, the more vulnerable he is. If the Dark Lord were to seize control of the Ministry, he could use Fudge as a pawn, maybe to start a civil war, or a war between other countries in effort to kill all the half-bloods and Muggle-borns. I am afraid that he still, and maybe always will, see Dumbledore as a threat to his beloved throne. He knows that there are far better wizards out there, who have more brains and knowledge of magic than he does. I wouldn't be surprised if one day, the townspeople demanded that he give up his seat. Cornelius Fudge has obviously not thought that far,'  
  
'How did he get the job then?' asked Harry. 'I know Crouch was up for it until he sent his son to Azkaban, and I know Dumbledore turned it down, but weren't there better wizards?'  
  
'There were,' McGonagall nodded. 'But it was a very hard time, Potter. Before you came along, many witches and wizards tried to take on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. There were those who didn't know about the Order of the Phoenix, and had organized their own group to invade his territory. They were killed immediately. The Dark Lord went after the best wizards, and many of them turned to his side, and those who didn't were killed. Lucius Malfoy was working in the Ministry, and tried to be the next Minister—a move that the Dark Lord approved of—but was shot down when the Daily Prophet accused him of being a Death Eater. It was, of course, unfounded.  
  
'As wizard-kind slowly went down, Cornelius was slowly going up. He was very dedicated to his job. He worked hard to become Junior Assistant to the Minister. I don't suppose you knew that the Minister for Magic at the time was killed by You-Know-Who when he refused to hand over the Ministry?'  
  
'No,' said Harry in surprise.  
  
'Very resistant to the Imperius Curse, he was,' McGonagall nodded. 'Well, the Dark Lord could see that it was no use, and had him killed, even without trying the Cruciatus Curse. After his death, Crouch went after the position, even though he wasn't at such a high position as Fudge. He had many connections, and many people supported him. But then you came and everything changed. Crouch made the mistake of sending his only child to Azkaban, and the people who worked for the Dark Lord had to redeem themselves, even though they were cleared of all charges. Dumbledore was offered the position, but turned it down, saying that his loyalty lay with Hogwarts. So Cornelius was given the position instead. There was no one else to turn to who hadn't been killed or imprisoned,'  
  
There was a tense silence in the room after she completed her story. 'Well, back to business, Potter. As I told you last year, you will need Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts under your belt, and you seem to have gotten this far. Congratulations,'  
  
'Thanks,' Harry nodded. 'Um, Professor, I was wondering … does this mean that I can drop Care of Magical Creatures?'  
  
McGonagall looked surprised. 'Well, of course, Potter. But I thought it was one of your favorite subjects?'  
  
'It is,' said Harry uncomfortably. 'It's just that, if I'm going to be an Auror, there's really no use for that, is there? And Astronomy too, I suppose,'  
  
'This doesn't have anything to do with Hagrid not teaching the NEWT Course, does it?' questioned McGonagall.   
  
'No!' Harry lied. 'Professor Grubbly-Plank is good. It's just that I need to concentrate on what's really going to help me in the future, and this class is getting in the way,'  
  
'Well, of course, Potter,' McGonagall nodded. 'You have my permission to drop Care of Magical Creatures. And Astronomy too, if you wish,'  
  
'Thanks, Professor,' said Harry with a rush of gratitude.  
  
'Now, I must warn you Potter, being an Auror is a very hard job. You need to get top marks for your NEWTs, and as I told you last year, you need to take tests after Hogwarts too. It's good had work, and probably the only thing harder than being an Auror is being a Healer,'  
  
'I'm not interested in being a Healer,' said Harry. 'I've only thought about being an Auror or a professional Quidditch player, but that's out of the question,'  
  
'Yes, I wouldn't place too much faith on such things. You're good, Potter, but never forget that there could be someone better out there. And the entertainment industry is very limited. I'd stick to Auror if I were you, but I'd also have a back-up, just in case,'  
  
'Like what? I don't know how to do anything else,' said Harry despairingly.  
  
'Well, I'm afraid to say that with your grades, trying out for the Ministry of Magic is already out. Especially if you're planning to give up even more subjects, such as Care of Magical Creatures. Have you ever thought about going into teaching?'  
  
'No,' said Harry. It was an interesting idea, though. 'But I'm open to options,'  
  
'Well, with the Defense Association under your belt, you already have a vague idea of what it would be like to mold minds. And Defense Against the Dark Arts is your best subject too. And with this continuous pattern of teachers dropping out after a year, you may very well have a chance to work back here in Hogwarts. Who knows, maybe you'll make history and stay to teach for two years or more,' she smiled. 'I think that teaching would be a good backup, but if you don't feel comfortable with that, there are such companies as Gringotts Bank and Bertie Botts Empire, or something. Of course, you could become an entrepreneur and create a new kind of sweet, but it is highly unlikely.'  
  
Harry had to admit, being a Defense teacher did sound good. And he would be back in Hogwarts. Maybe Professor Dumbledore would still be headmaster … 'Professor,' said Harry, 'Professor Dumbledore was a Transfiguration teacher before becoming the Headmaster. And I know that you're Deputy Headmistress … is that a pattern?'  
  
Professor McGonagall smiled. 'No, Potter. Teachers are evaluated each year, and Dumbledore was the best. When Armando Dippet retired as Headmaster, Dumbledore was given the position. The same goes for me. Of course, when I become Headmistress, Professor Snape would be the next in line, so if you plan on beating us to it, you'd have to work hard,'  
  
'Yes, Professor,'  
  
Professor checked her file on Harry. 'Well, Potter. I think that should be about it. I think that if you fail to be an Auror, you would make an excellent Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. Now, I think that the students should be making their way to the Great Hall for dinner, so you may go. Please tell Mr. Weasley that he's next for his Career Advice, and to meet me directly after dinner,'  
  
'Yes, ma'am,' said Harry, getting up.  
  
'So what did she say?' asked Ron during dinner.  
  
'She thinks that I should be a Defense teacher for Hogwarts if I don't make it as an Auror,' Harry informed. 'And I think it's a good idea,'  
  
'You'll make it as an Auror,' said Ron supportingly.  
  
'She wants to see you next, after dinner,' Harry informed.  
  
'Right. What about you?' Ron turned to Hermione. 'What did she tell you?'  
  
'She said that I had good grades, but I have to pick myself up for the NEWTs, if I plan on entering the Ministry,' said Hermione, putting some mashed potatoes on her plate. 'She said they don't accept anything less than 'Outstanding' for every subject I take, so if I feel that I can't pick myself up, I can drop a few subjects. So I may do that, or I may just not go to the Ministry in the future,'  
  
'Did she give you a backup?' asked Harry.  
  
'Loads,' Hermione answered. 'Banker, teacher, Auror …'  
  
'I hope she doesn't tell me that I won't be fit to do anything after she sees my grades,' said Ron in a nervous tone.  
  
'Is it that bad?' asked Hermione, watching him.  
  
'Well, better than Fred and George,' said Ron, placing some scallops on his plate. 'But then again, they became entrepreneurs and invented their joke shop. It's definitely not better than Percy's, of course. Or Charlie's. Or Bill's. Or Mum's. Or Dad's …' he trailed off, looking rather sick.  
  
'Calm down,' said Hermione. 'Professor McGonagall told me that it's really good that I'm a Prefect. It counts for a lot, because the position goes into our permanent records. She'll say the same for you,'  
  
'Yeah, but it was a fluke that I became a Prefect. It should have been Harry. I'm rubbish,' said Ron, glancing at Harry.  
  
'Don't be stupid,' said Harry. 'Even if it wasn't me, Dumbledore could have picked anyone else if you were really rubbish. Obviously, you were the best—pass me the pumpkin juice, Hermione—and besides that, I'm sure people know what you did during the Philosopher's Stone episode. Saving the world will definitely go into your permanent record,'  
  
'Yes, playing giant chess, that counts for a lot,' Ron said sarcastically. Then, Seamus came up to them.   
  
'Hey, Harry,' he greeted. 'When's the DA meeting?'  
  
'At seven,' said Harry. Fudge would have to accept that. He had met with Professor McGonagall before dinner, and couldn't meet the class. Besides, this was his class, and he wanted it held at seven. Seamus nodded and went back to a group of Gryffindor seventh-years and told them the time.  
  
*  
  
'… so she was said that if I'm half as good as dad is, I can take up Muggle Studies and if I work hard at it, I can get into the Ministry in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts,' Ron was saying as the three of them made their way to the Room of Requirement. 'But that's my last resort. That Department is seriously undermined, and I don't want to have to suffer more taunts, and not earn a lot of money,'  
  
'I wonder why she didn't tell that to me,' Hermione said. 'I'm Muggle-born, after all,'  
  
'Probably because she thought you could amount to much more,' said Ron gloomily. 'You probably don't know this, but in the Ministry, blood counts. I could drop in dad's name to get ahead, but I would go further if I used Percy's. She also said that I should consider a job with animals, like Charlie. But that means that I would need an Outstanding in Care of Magical Creatures,'  
  
'I thought you needed really high marks to enter the Ministry of Magic,' said Harry.  
  
'You do. For a high-profiled job, like the Department of International Magical Co-operation, or the Department of Mysteries, or to be a member of the Hit Squad—that's the squad that takes on serious things that are too trivial for Aurors to be bothered with—and especially the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. But as I said, the Department of Magical Artifacts is very undermined,'  
  
'So are you going to take up Muggle Studies?' asked Hermione.  
  
'I suppose I'll have to. But this means that I'll probably have to drop something, but I don't know what. I can't drop Defense, nor can I drop Herbology, because I might have to handle bewitched plants. And this is only backup. Most probably I'll take on Animal Regulation, like Charlie, so I can't drop out of Care of Magical Creatures either,'  
  
'Why not drop Transfiguration?' suggested Harry. 'You don't have to transform anything for Animal Regulation of Muiggle Artifacts, do you? And what about Potions?'  
  
Ron immediately brightened up. 'But Transfiguration and Potions are two of the most important subjects in Hogwarts, though,' reminded Hermione. They arrived at the Room of Requirement, and went in. The class was already assembled before them.  
  
'About time,' Malfoy sneered. He was standing next to Matthew Avery, a Slytherin sixth year. Behind them, Harry could see Cho Chang talking to a girl he didn't know. Luna Lovegood was staring at the space of wall beside Harry, and Colin and Dennis Creevey were chattering eagerly to an annoyed-looking Lorena Nott. They fell silent when they realized that Harry was in the room. Neville gave him a supporting sort of smile, and Seamus looked impatient to start.  
  
'Okay, well,' Harry said as Ron and Hermione took their places. 'Today we're just going to go through what some of you did last year, because we have new students.' There were a few groans at this, and Zacharias Smith raised his hand.  
  
'If we're not doing anything new today, can I leave?' he asked.  
  
'By all means,' Ron snapped.  
  
'Well, you can leave if you want,' Harry shrugged unconcernedly. 'I would have thought, however, that since Voldemort—' the class gasped, except for Hermione, '—is back, you would have relished the chance to brush up.' Zacharias looked sulky, but didn't leave. Remembering Ginny's idea about teaching the real class useless things, and the non-Slytherins useful spells, he decided to start with a simple Stunning spell. 'Partner up,' he commanded, 'and raised your wand and say Stupefy!'  
  
There was rush, as everyone tried to avoid the people they didn't like. Harry saw Colin offer to practice with Lorena, but she breezed past and seized Hermione's hand. Malfoy and Avery paired off together, Dean and Seamus, Cho and her friend, Ron and Ginny, leaving Neville and Luna together, amongst other couples. 'On the count of three, say the spell. One … two … three!'  
  
'Stupefy!'  
  
It was chaos. Some students fell to the floor, the spell performed correctly, but most of them said it at the same time, and the spells bounced off each other and ricocheted of the walls, hitting books and Foe-Glasses and other things, occasionally hitting a student in the back and stupefying him. Harry ducked as a beam of red light headed straight for him, and missed him, ricocheting and hitting Avery between the eyes. 'Okay, next time, only one person in the group gets to say it at a time,' said Harry.  
  
'What is this, Potter?' Malfoy called. 'Can't you even teach a simple Stunning spell? What have you been doing all of last year?'  
  
Harry ignored him. 'Everybody take your wands, and try again. This time, awaken your partners. Simply point the wand at him and say Ennervate!'  
  
'Ennervate!' the class chorused. The room was filled with groans as the students woke up from the hard stone floor. The door burst open and Harry turned around, and was shocked to see Percy Weasley glaring at him.  
  
'So, this is where the Defense Association is being held, is it?' he said. 'Professor Fudge asked me to find out why the class wasn't held at five, like he was promised,'  
  
'First of all, I didn't promise him anything,' Harry said, his voice filled with indignation. 'I was at having Career Advice with Professor McGonagall, and couldn't meet with the DA,'  
  
'Very well,' Percy nodded. 'I shall inform Professor Fudge of that when he returns. Class dismissed,'  
  
There were confused murmurs, and some of the students made for the door. 'Stay where you are!' Harry commanded. They stopped. 'This is my class, and you don't have the right to dismiss it. We're suppose to hold it for an hour, and fifteen minutes haven't even passed yet,'  
  
'Well, Potter,' said Percy coldly, 'the Minister has had to return to the Ministry, and until then, he's placed me as his replacement, until his business is sorted out. I'm now an official teacher here, whereas you are not, so I do have the power to dismiss your class. The students need their rest,' he glanced around the room, where the books and instruments lay strewn on the floor, 'and it doesn't seem like you're doing too well on your own, does it? Maybe you should hand over the class to me. I'm sure I can whip it to shape, along with my new Defense Against the Dark Arts duties,'  
  
'You joking, Weasley,' Malfoy laughed. 'The most dangerous thing you've ever encountered is your run-down home!'  
  
Percy glared at Malfoy. 'Detention, Mr. Malfoy,' he said. 'Tomorrow night, my office. Now, class dismissed!' and he was gone. The students looked to Harry, who was still shooting daggers at the door.   
  
'Class dismissed,' he said in gritted teeth. 'Previous members of the Defense Association, please stay back. The rest of you may return to your dorms.' The class filed out, leaving Harry with the members of Dumbledore's Army. After checking to make sure that there was no one listening outside, Harry turned back to the students. 'Look, I know the Sorting Hat and the teachers are all worried about school unity, but to make it short, I don't trust the Slytherins, and I don't think any of you should either. So this is my plan. Hermione is going to make more gold Galleons, unless you lot still have yours. We'll hold official DA meetings this time every week, but I'll only teach the most useless things I can think of. But then, we'll meet up without the Slytherins and have real meetings. What do you say?'  
  
Cheers and whistles met this, and Harry grinned. 'Now, I couldn't say "everyone who isn't a Slytherin, stay back" without making it too suspicious, so when the Galleons are made, I want you to pass it on to your friends who were in today's lesson,'  
  
'Can we call our DA Dumbledore's Army instead of the Defense Association?' asked Ginny.  
  
Harry nodded, and for a moment, caught Cho's eye. 'All right then, dismissed,'  
  
*  
  
'That was ruddy brilliant,' said Ron.  
  
'I want to meet Percy,' Harry said vehemently. 'He can't get away with controlling my class.'  
  
They made their way to Fudge's office, and opened the door, but there was no one there. 'Hello?' Harry called, stepping inside, Ron and Hermione following him. 'Percy?'  
  
'He's not here,' said Hermione at last. 'Let's go,'  
  
'I suppose we have to,' Harry sighed. 'Come on, Ron.'  
  
'Hold up!' Ron said. He was reading a letter on Percy's table with wide eyes. 'Come and look at this!'  
  
They rushed to his side and read over his shoulder.  
  
D ear Percy—  
  
I tried but I couldn't get the Weird Sisters to perform for the ceremony. I called the caterers however, and they promised to deliver, and the I picked roses for the centerpieces just like we decided. I'm sorry to have to write such a short letter, but I still have to finish my report on the Illegal Shipment of Brooms. I still can't believe we've lasted this long, and I can't believe you proposed to me. Our wedding will be a night to remember, I promise.  
  
Love,  
  
Penelope  
  
'Blimey,' Ron whispered. 'Percy's getting married!'  
  
A/N: I hope you like it. It's my longest chapter yet, and things are heating up. Please Review!  
  
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to JK Rowling, except for Lorena Nott and Kalina Kolaris. The plot is also mine, but the story is hers. 


	5. Chapter Five

_Quidditch Captain_

The first thing Ron did the next morning was to go to the Owlery and send Pigwidgeon to the Burrow with a letter telling him about the letter from Penelope they had discovered. 'I'm sure Percy would really appreciate you reading his private letters,' said Harry sarcastically.

    'Well, he had no right to propose without even telling us,'

    'Ron, he's not a child,' said Harry.

    'No, he just does an amazing impersonation,' said Ron. 'I mean, even Fudge has come around. We've proved to everyone that You-Know-Who is back, but he still refuses to come back,'

    'Maybe he's enjoying being on his own,' Harry reasoned. Ron snorted.

    'Percy isn't the type to enjoy independence. When we were kids, all we wanted to do was get away from Mum and Dad, but not him. Fred, George and I would go out by ourselves, and sometimes, even Ginny would try to sneak out, especially if Bill or Charlie were home. But not Percy. Trust me Harry, if there's one thing I know, it's that Percy needs someone to take care of him. He can't make it on his own,'

    'Maybe that's why he's getting married,' Harry shrugged.

    'But why?' asked Ron in frustration. 'He knows we're not going to turn away from him, doesn't he?'

    Harry didn't know how to answer. The Weasleys wouldn't turn away from Percy, that was true. So why didn't he go back? Did he think that he would be teased mercilessly if he did or something? Well, Harry supposed, Percy had never been that strong. Maybe the thought of being teased by Fred and George about this, however slightly, would destroy him. In any case, it was too complicated for him to ponder on right now.

    After Pigwidgeon had flown off, and was out of sight, Harry and Ron went down to breakfast. They entered the Great Hall and checked their scheduled. Transfiguration was first, followed by Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ron groaned at this because he hadn't even bothered to try the Marble Transformation. Just then, the owls flew in to deliver the letters. A tawny owl flew to Hermione, and Hedwig aimed straight for Harry. She was carrying a letter from Hagrid.

Harry—

    How about coming down to me hut for tea tonight? Bring Ron and Hermione, if they don't have Prefect duties.

Hagrid

    'I don't know, Harry,' said Hermione when he asked them. 'We're supposed to meet Professor McGonagall tonight about which classes we plan to add and drop, remember?'

    Harry nodded, and scribbled a quick reply.

Hagrid—

    Can't promise anything, because we have to meet Professor McGonagall, and we don't know when. I'll owl you an answer after I ask.

—Harry

    'Look at this,' said Hermione, looking at the Daily Prophet. She passed it on to Harry.

_DEATH EATER ATTACK ON PUREBLOOD_

    'A report was made to the Ministry of Magic today from Harrison Bode, of the Department of Mysteries. Bode reported that he had been attacked in his home last night by Death Eaters for a yet unknown reason. Bode, who suffered the loss of his brother last year when he was killed by a Devil's Snare posing as a potted plant in St. Mungo's, currently lives alone in Godric's Hollow.'

    'Bode was taken into custody this morning, after the report was launched. The Ministry is baffled as to why You-Know-Who would order an attack on a pureblood wizard, and Aurors are currently searching for the missing Death Eaters. Cornelius Fudge has assured the community that they are close to finding the Death Eaters, who escaped, along with the Dementors of Azkaban, almost a week ago, or more. The Minister of Magic has admitted to not knowing when the Death Eaters escaped, only saying that he found the building empty when he conducted a search at one in the morning on September 30th.'

    'Cornelius Fudge is now facing an inquiry by the International Confederation of Wizards and the Wizengamot, and has been forced to leave his position as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in Hogwarts, leaving Junior Assistant, Percival Weasley, in charge until he returns. Cornelius Fudge, who has been hiding knowledge of the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and degrading Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, and Harry Potter, the "Boy Who Lived", may be forced to leave his position as Minister for Magic, and maybe even the Ministry.'

    'What?' interrupted Ron. 'But—but that might mean that Percy will be Minister and Fudge might be a permanent Defense teacher!'

    Harry highly doubted so, but didn't say anything. In his mind, Fudge would most likely be degraded until he felt that he couldn't bear to be in England anymore. And from what Professor McGonagall had told him, being Junior Assistant meant nothing if the Ministry felt that there was someone better out there. And as Percy had been promoted so that he could spy for Fudge, there was bound to be someone better than him. They continued to eat their breakfast and read the news until the bell sounded and it was time for them to head to Transfiguration.

    When they were seated, Professor McGonagall reminded them about telling her which subjects they planned on dropping, and Harry was happy to find out that they didn't have to see her in her office again. She expected them to write it down and hand it up to her at the end of class (she was providing five minutes for them to write it down). This meant that the three of them would be free to see Hagrid.

    'I hope that you have gotten somewhere with the Marble Transformations,' she said. 'Please take out the quills I gave you, and show me what you have done,'

    Ron was relieved to see that most of the class hadn't made any progress whatever. Hermione, however, had turned the tip of the quill into marble, and had earned a congratulations from McGonagall.

    'How did you do that?' demanded Ron when they left the class. They had spent the hour unsuccessfully trying to turn the quill into marble, and had made absolutely no progress. 'How did you turn the tip marble? And why didn't the rest of the quill follow?'

    'I tried as hard as I could, but the spell couldn't transform something as big as a quill,' shrugged Hermione. They arrived in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and went in. They saw Percy writing something on a piece of parchment. Once the class was seated, Percy looked up.

    'Professor Fudge gave me a letter telling me that he taught you Hinkypunks last lesson, and has asked me to go through Boggarts,'

    'We've already done that,' said Hermione. Percy ignored her.

    'Now, Boggarts are shape-shifters, and take on the shape of the thing the victim fears most,' said Percy. 'There is a simple, Ministry-approved way of destroying it. Simply flick your wand and say 'Riddikulus!'

    'We have to think of something funny too,' added Neville. Percy ignored him as well.

    'Now, I think that pretty much covers it,' said Percy. 'Now, let's move on to Kappas.' He began to drone on about the topic, sounding very, very much like Professor Binns. He paused only to tell them to take down notes, which nobody did, as they already knew all they needed to know about Kappas. By the time the lesson was over, Percy had lectured about Boggarts, Kappas, done a revision of Hinkypunks, followed by many of the things Professor Lupin had taught them in their third year.

    'Ron, your brother is the most boring man I've ever met,' groaned Dean when they left the class. They had Care of Magical Creatures next, and complained about Percy's lack of teaching skills all the way there. The Slytherins were there already with Professor Grubbly-Plank. Harry was upset that he was to take another Care of Magical Creatures lesson, as he had already dropped it in Transfiguration, but the add/drop program was not meant to be active until next Monday

    'Good,' she said briskly. 'Now that we're all here, let's get started on the Lycosa. Girls, come with me.'

    They left the boys there waiting for her. For once Draco Malfoy didn't bother them, instead choosing to stay silent and glare at nothing. Harry wondered what was wrong with him, but didn't bother to find out. Whatever it was that had Malfoy distressed, he hoped that it continued for a long time. They stood there in silence, the students talking only about the news item. It seemed that ever since the sixth-year started, they had been following the news eagerly.  After a half-hour, the girls returned.

    'Boys!' barked Grubbly-Plank. 'Come here,'

    The boys went to the Professor, who was being surrounding by little bugs. 'Notebooks out,' she instructed. 'Now, as I said before, Lycosas are adult Licosas, which we saw last lesson. Now, can anyone tell me what the difference is between the two?' There was no response. 'Right then. Write this down. Licosas have two pairs of wings, each very small in size. When they mature into Lycosas, the wings expand. The top two expand first, and take up a bigger surface area, forcing the bottom two to fall off. So Lycosas only possess two large wings. There are small amounts of hair on the legs of the Lycosas as well, in order for them to carry pollen. The females have small legs on their pockets used to carry the eggs when it is laid. This is essential to deposit them in the water.

    'Lycosas are crushed because their bones are essential for the use of Polyjuice Potions—' at this, Ron's hands flew to his throat, and he made a strangled sort of noise. The students and Professor Grubbly-Plank stared at him. Harry gave him a don't-say-anything look. 'Something wrong, Weasley?'

    'N-no,' said Ron. 'Sorry, something got caught in my throat,'

    'Right,' Grubbly-Plank turned back to the Lycosas. 'Lycosa wings are not as precious Licosas, but they are used to keep fires going. Lycosas are also one of the favorite foods of Thestrals, along with other animals, including Carnals—which we will be learning next lesson, I might add,'

    They spent the rest of the lesson learning about the Lycosa, and the merits and demerits about them on the world. After that, they were permitted to leave.

    The two houses made their way to the Great Hall and sat down for lunch. Harry noticed that Malfoy wasn't talking or eating, like the rest of his housemates, and briefly wondered why, before his attention was torn to Seamus, who had accidentally set his leg on fire and was frantically attempting to douse it. In the end, Hermione stood up and shouted, '_Aqua!_' and water spurted out of the tip of her wand and onto Seamus's chicken leg.

    'Thanks, Hermione,' said Seamus gratefully. Hermione smiled and sat back down, and resumed eating her steamed fish, and the rest of the students resumed their lunch as well. Harry saw Professor Dumbledore whisper to Professor McGonagall, who looked very serious, just as he did, but they didn't do anything. 

    They went to Double Potions and finally to Herbology, before it was time to go back to their dorms. The Gryffindors were to have Astronomy that night, and Harry was eager to get some rest beforehand. They went up to the castle, and were about to go up the stairs when—

    'Ron! Harry! Hermione!' called a very familiar voice. They turned to see Mrs. Weasley rushing up to them, Mr. Weasley behind her. The three of them paused and let the students pass, and the two Weasleys caught up to them.

    'Mum,' said Ron, stunned. 'What are you doing here?'

    'Well, we got your owl about Percy,' said Mr. Weasley quickly, and he and his wife shared a look.

    'So you came all the way here just to see Percy?' Ron couldn't conceal his surprise. 'I thought that you would—I dunno—send him a Howler or something,'

    'Well …' Mrs. Weasley was at a loss for words.

    'We decided we didn't want to embarrass Percy with a Howler in front of the students,' Mr. Weasley jumped in. 'You know how loud those things are. So we decided to come and have a mature chat with him,'

    'I see,' nodded Ron, not sounding as though he quite believed them. 'Well …'

    'By any chance, do you know the password to Dumbledore's office?' asked Mr. Weasley. Ron looked surprised, and Harry and Hermione were too. 

    'Why would you need to go to Dumbledore's office?' asked Hermione.

    'Oh …Order business,' Mrs. Weasley lowered her voice. 'Kingsley needs to work overtime at the Ministry, so we need to ask Dumbledore if Arthur or I can take his place, and since we're coming here anyway, we decided not to bother him with an owl,'

    'Well, if Dumbledore's expecting you, you could tell the gargoyle that, and he'd let you through. But you can always ask one of the professors,' Harry volunteered.

    'Thank you, Harry dear,' smiled Mrs. Weasley. 'Come on, Arthur, let's go. See you, Ron. You three will behave yourselves, won't you?'

    'Yes, mum,' sighed Ron. When they were gone, he turned to them. 'Wonder why they're still patrolling. I thought they only did that last year because of the prophecy,'

    'No, I suppose that they need to be on the lookout for anything suspicious,' said Hermione. 'I wonder _where_ they're patrolling though,'

    That night, Harry noticed that Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape weren't present at dinner.

*

    The next day, Harry woke up at eight, determined not to be late for breakfast, when he realized that it was Saturday. He groaned, and fell back onto the sheets. He shot back up when he realized that Seamus wasn't in his bed. Pulling on some pants, he walked down to the common room to see Seamus there, dozing. He was sleeping upon a book, which Harry recognized, as he had read it many times during his first year. But what on earth was Seamus doing with _Quidditch Through the Ages_?

    'Seamus,' he shook his friend lightly on the shoulder.

    Seamus's eyes opened. 'Harry?'

    'Why are you sleeping in the common room?' asked Harry. 'Didn't you come up at all?'

    'No, I guess I didn't,' said Seamus, stretching and yawning. 'I've been reading this book, it's really amazing,'

    'I know,' smiled Harry. 'It's one of my favorites,'

    'Oh, right,' nodded Seamus. 'You would have read it. Well, I suppose you've guessed that I'm trying out for Quidditch this year,'

    'That's great!' said Harry enthusiastically.

    'Yeah,' nodded Seamus. 'I wanted to try out last year, but there was only the Keeper position open, and I want to be a Chaser,'

    'Well, you're in luck,' said Harry. 'We have a lot of openings this year,'

    'Including the position of team captain, eh?' winked Seamus. Harry smiled. 'Don't worry, mate. The only competition you have is Katie, and she wasn't as good as Angelina, and she's not half as good as you are,'

    Harry's smile turned into a full-blown grin. Seamus's hand went to his, Harry's, hair and he brushed it a little with his fingers, and brought a lock of it down to Harry's forehead. 'Looks better that way,' said Seamus softly. 'More … handsome,'

    Harry blushed.

    'Thanks,' he said, sitting next to Seamus. 'So why are you reading _Ages_? I thought you knew everything there was to know about Quidditch,'

    'I do,' said Seamus. 'Just brushing up on a few facts. Having to go back to the Muggle world every summer and miss Quidditch matches takes its toll after a while.' Seamus was a half-blood, and he had once told them, in their first year, that his parents lived in a Muggle community, as his father didn't know he married a witch until after the wedding. 'So, I hear you're dropping Care of Magical Creatures,'

    With a flash of horror, Harry realized that he had completely forgotten about his visit to Hagrid's. 'Er, yeah. I am. Since Hagrid's not teaching and all,' he said.

    'So you know what you want to do then,' said Seamus, sounding impressed. 'I still have no idea. In the end, I went to the library before my meeting with McGonagall and just wrote down every occupation they listed in a book that didn't sound too outrageous,'

    'Did she suspect?'

    'I think so,' he nodded. 'She was definitely trying not to giggle when she saw that I wrote 'Healer' on the list. I would have laughed too. I don't think I realized what I was writing at the time,'

    'So what did she tell you to do?' asked Harry.

    'Well, not Healer, that's for sure. And Ministry work is out too. She said that I could most probably become a Potion Master, if I work hard at it. And if I don't set the class on fire. And I'm pretty good at Charms too, so I could make it as a wand-maker, if I wanted as a backup. What about you?'

    'Auror if I keep working hard,' said Harry. 'Defense teacher at Hogwarts as a backup,'

    'I hate Career Advice,' said Seamus gloomily. 'And work in the Muggle world is out, so I guess I'm eventually going to have to decide,'

    'Guess so,' said Harry. He looked over at Seamus and was surprised to see that the other boy was pouting. Not a big pout, his lower lip was just sticking out a fraction of an inch. It was barely noticeable, but Harry could still see it. He wondered if Seamus knew. 'You're pouting,'

    'I'm what?' Seamus stared. 

    'Pouting,' Harry repeated. 'Just a little,'

    'Should I be flattered that you're noticing my lips?' Seamus teased, grinning. Harry laughed.

    'Maybe you should be,' he replied, taken aback by his bold answer.

    'Oh, I am,' assured Seamus. 'Very flattered,'

    Harry then noticed how close they were to each other, but made no move to back away. He was suddenly reminded of the vision he had had of his father and Sirius. There was a pang of sadness when he thought about Sirius, but his attention was drawn away from his dead godfather when Seamus suddenly clamped his lips on his. He moaned, and kissed back, thanking the stars that he had kissed Cho Chang last year. Seamus, though younger than her, seemed to be more experienced. He started off slow, and quickly became more passionate as the kisses continued. Cho had just been gentle, as though afraid that he would break if she got more intense.

    It seemed to Harry as though he spent hours kissing Seamus, and he didn't want to stop, but finally Seamus pulled back. 'Wow,' he said.

    'Yeah,' Seamus nodded.

    'Who have you been kissing?' Harry questioned.

    'Oh, just a few people,' Seamus shrugged. 'Lavender, Kalana, Justin—'

    'Finch-Fletchly?' asked Harry, eyebrows rising.

    'Yes,' nodded Seamus. 'He was the only guy other than you I've ever kissed, though,'

    'Really? I would have thought Dean would be on the list too,'

    Seamus blushed. 'I don't have a _list_,' he said self-consciously. 'But nah, Dean wouldn't be interested. Besides we're too good as friends to try anything else. And I wouldn't be interested in him either. And before you ask, I snogged you because I think you're cute, not because you're the next Quidditch Captain. In case you're wondering,'

    'Don't worry, I'm not,' said Harry. He had always thought Seamus as attractive and he knew that he had a good body underneath his robes, and he was flattered that Seamus thought him as cute. Just then, a yawning Kalana Kolaris came down the stairs.

    'Oh, hello Harry,' she said, apparently forgiven him about not knowing who she was. She caught sight of Seamus and went silent, eyes flashing.

    'Hey, Kalana,' said Seamus easily.

    'Good morning, Seamus,' she said coldly, then turned her attention back on Harry again. 'Going for an early breakfast?'

    'Uh, yeah. I guess so,' said Harry. 'Want to come?' he asked Seamus, who nodded. Kalana narrowed her eyes at Seamus, but smiled sweetly.

    'She's just a piece of work, isn't she?' muttered Seamus as they went down to the Great Hall, Kalana a few steps ahead of them. 'Never forgave me for chucking her, even though it was five months ago,'

    Harry wanted to listen to Seamus's words, but couldn't help smiling at the low pitch of Seamus's voice when he was muttering. His eyes widened when he felt Seamus's hand wrap around his arse and slowly stroke it. He wanted badly to kiss Seamus, and there was an erection pressing against his jeans and robes. 

    They arrived at the Gryffindor table and sat down. Harry noted that Luna Lovegood was at the Ravenclaw table, stirring her porridge with her spoon while looking at the enchanted roof. He and Luna had met last year, and had an alright relationship, but he hadn't really talked to her this year. He had doubts however, that she would be in the background anymore. Most probably, she would play an active role in his circle of friends from now on. Lorena Nott was there too, looking incredibly sleepy, but she looked up when they walked in, and waved at Harry, who waved back.

    Ernie Macmillan was talking to Hannah Abbott, a friend of his, at the Hufflepuff table, and Harry was surprised to see Malfoy sitting alone at the Slytherin table, eyes trained on his eggs and toast. He found himself feeling something like concern for his arch-nemesis. Ever since Crabbe and Goyle had disappeared (he was very concerned about this too), Malfoy had been a loner, and Harry knew that Malfoy was one of the most popular students in Slytherin. Why then, didn't he just find some new friends? Surely the two of them were not hard to replace?

    Harry was afraid mainly that Malfoy's two cronies had been taken into Voldemort's service, but he couldn't understand why he had been left behind. Was he there to spy on Hogwarts? He shook his head and took a croissant and ate it, then placed the rest on his plate. Seamus was wolfing down scrambled eggs and sausages, and Kalana was daintily sipping coffee, reminding Harry of his Aunt Petunia. He closed his eyes, feeling tired. He wondered what Voldemort was planning this year, and wondered if he could handle it.

    _'There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times,' _he remembered Dumbledore's words. _'It contains a force more wonderful and terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature. It is the power held in that room that you possess in such quantities, and which Voldemort has not at all.'_

    'Harry?' Harry jerked awake at the sound of Seamus's voice. He had been dozing on the table, and Seamus was shaking him gently on the arm. 'Harry, wake up!'

    'I'm awake, I'm awake,' said Harry. There were more students there now. He saw Malfoy walking away, not looking at anything but the door he was heading for.

    'You were talking in your sleep,' Kalana said with an amused smile. 'Do you do that often?'

    Harry saw Seamus roll his eyes in exasperation. 'Er … was I?' Harry asked uncertainly. 'I don't think I've done that before,'

    'Well, don't start now,' said Seamus. 'I've got to go, mate. See you,'

    'See you,' said Harry. Seamus got up from the bench, and went out.

    'So …' said Kalana, smiling flirtatiously. 'Tell me about yourself,'

    Harry stared at her. 'Hey, Seamus!' he called. 'I think I'll come along,' and he got up and tried to get out of the room quickly without looking like he was running.

    Seamus was nowhere to be found, but Lorena was. 'Hey, Harry,' she greeted. 'Where are you going?'

    'Anywhere away from Kalana Kolaris,' said Harry.

     'What's wrong with her?' Lorena frowned. 'Doesn't she like you?'

    'Maybe a bit too much,' said Harry. 'She just asked me to tell her about myself,'

    Lorena laughed. 'Ah, the charmed life of Harry Potter,' she mocked. 'It's so troublesome to have people throwing themselves at your feet, I expect,'

    Harry blushed.

    'Anyway, I'm just headed for the lake,' she said. 'Do you want to come along? I notice Ron and Hermione aren't exactly early risers,'

    'Sure,' Harry shrugged.

    'Give me a moment. I just need to send my parents a letter,' she looked annoyed by this. 'I don't know why. They probably just use my letters as target practice or something. We barely even talk when I'm back for the summer from school, but during the school year, they decide to play being the perfect family,'

    'I'll wait for you here,' promised Harry. Lorena nodded, and went to the Owlery. After a few minutes, she returned, looking a bit excited, but her features turned back to normal as she approached Harry.

    'You look excited,' said Harry at once.

    'Hmm? Oh, I went to the Owlery, and I found an owl waiting for me,' she explained. 'It was from my boyfriend,'

    'I didn't know you had a boyfriend,' said Harry.

    'Were you hopeful?' she teased. 'Look at this face,' she said in a dramatic voice. 'This is the face that will one day launch a thousand brooms.' Harry laughed, and she grinned. 'I was always told in Durmstrang that I had a flair for acting,'

    If she could only hear the truth. Harry wondered if she would be surprised to hear that the famous Harry Potter kissed boys more than he did girls. Lately, he had felt a very odd change within him. It wasn't magical, he knew. But now he wondered if the change was a change in sexual preference. He realized he hadn't thought about Cho in months. He hadn't felt upset that she had started dating Michael Corner, and he hadn't thought about a single girl ever since. Instead, he had dreamt (he wasn't too sure it was a dream, though) about his father and godfather, and he had snogged Seamus just this morning. And he liked it.

    They went past the Quidditch pitch, and stopped at the tree he had seen his dad and his friends hang around through Snape's Pensieve last year. Lorena revealed some toast she had taken from the Great Hall. She tore off a strip and tossed it into the lake. It floated there for a minute or two, then a giant tentacle rose and pulled the toast down. 'It's very peaceful here,' Lorena observed.

    Harry kept silent, thoughts running through his head. 'Are your parents Death Eaters?' he blurted.

    'What?'

    'Are your parents Death Eaters?' Harry repeated.

    Lorena kept quiet. 'Yes, they are,' she said. 'But I don't want to be. That's why I was in Durmstrang this whole time,'

    'So you're a Muggle-lover?'

    'No,' she shook her head. 'I'm not willing to die for Muggles. Nor am I willing to spend the rest of my life in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts section in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. But I don't want to torture them either, especially when I don't have to. I just want to lead a normal life. Did you know that the Death Eaters are forced to kiss the Dark Lord's feet?'

    'Yes, I do,' said Harry. 'I saw them in my fourth year. They were scared,'

    'I don't want that for myself. And I've met Draco Malfoy, and I seriously doubt he wants that either. Though he may not have any choice …'

    'What do you mean?' asked Harry, looking at her.

    She kept looking at the lake, occasionally throwing more strips of toast for the giant squid to eat. 'I mean that Draco has been forced to follow Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy's rules all his life. And he's in Slytherin. His destiny is practically set. I've been disobedient all my life, and I got into Ravenclaw, so there's hope for me. You-Know-Who could see this as a betrayal, if he wishes. He'd never want me in his circle. Of course, he would most probably want me dead, but the point is I'm escaping. Draco's not,'

    Harry nodded. 'The Slytherins are doomed, aren't they?' he asked. 'I know they are, but … there's really no way out for them, is there?'

    'If You-Know-Who hadn't returned,' Lorena sighed heavily, 'they probably would have had a chance. But now that he's back, they really have no choice. I don't think there's an escape for them,'

    Harry looked up at the sky. Her words hung in the sky, and as he looked at the sky, a dark cloud arrived and blocked out the sun.

*

    Ron and Hermione were in the common room, most probably waiting for Harry. He spotted Ron and Ginny playing a game of Gobstones near the unlit fireplace, and Hermione was knitting what looked like a pair of tiny pants. 'Isn't this great?' she asked enthusiastically as Harry came up to them. 'I've been working on them all summer, and once I finish this, I'll have made a complete set of clothes. I learned how to make a during the summer, and now I'm working on these pants,'

    'Great,' said Harry dryly. 'I'm sure Dobby will appreciate it,'

    She frowned. 'Dobby? Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be him. I mean, house-elves are basically the same size, it could fit anyone,'

    Harry sighed, sitting on the chair next to hers, watching Ron and Ginny play. 'Hermione, the house-elves haven't been cleaning Gryffindor Tower for almost a year. It's only been Dobby ever since they found out you're trying to force them to touch clothes. He's been taking them and wearing them,'

    'Oh, dear!' said Hermione, distressed. 'This is awful!'

    'Gee, Hermione,' said Ron, looking up from his game. 'Maybe you should stop. I mean, if it's only Dobby …'

    Hermione looked sadly at her work. 'Well, I suppose if they're not going to enter Gryffindor Tower anymore …' she trailed off. 'I'll just make this for Dobby, and then I'll stop,'

    'Really?' asked Ron eagerly. 'Promise?'

    'Yes, I promise,' Hermione rolled her eyes, but Harry saw her cross her fingers when Ron wasn't looking. Knowing Hermione, she would probably stop until she had lured all the house-elves back into cleaning the common rooms, before springing the clothes on them again. 'Where have you been?' she turned to Harry.

    'Early breakfast with Seamus ,' said Harry. 'He's trying out for Chaser this year, and fell asleep reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_.' He didn't tell them anything about his kissing session with the sandy-haired boy before breakfast. 'And then I went down to the lake with Lorena Nott,'

    'Yeah?' asked Ron, looking up in interest. 'How was that?'

    'Fine,' Harry shrugged. 'Her parents are Death Eaters,'

    Ron, Ginny and Hermione stared at him, dumbstruck. 'What?'

    'You were alone with a Death Eater?' asked Hermione.

    'Lorena's a Death Eater?' cried Ron.

    'Of course not,' said Harry. 'Her parents are Death Eaters, not her. She doesn't want to be one. She just wants to be normal,'

    'Harry,' said Ginny severely, 'there's nothing _normal_ about someone who has Death Eaters for relatives,'

    Harry glared at the three of them. 'Sirius had a Death Eater for a brother,' he said quietly. They gaped. All at once, he realized that Lorena shared many things with Sirius. They were both disobedient, and fought against what was expected of them. They both had Death Eaters for relatives, and they were both born into a family they didn't want. With that thought, he left the two Weasleys and Hermione to themselves. He didn't want to talk anymore.

*

    Sunday was uneventful. Professor McGonagall came into their common room only to post a notice announcing that the Gryffindor Quidditch Team would be holding tryouts on Monday at four to fill the spots open. Seamus was very excited about this, and Harry even spotted Neville reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_, and wondered if he was going to try out for the team.

    Harry made it up to Hagrid by visiting him and Fang that afternoon, but he came alone. Fang gave a great bark of joy at the sight of him and lunged at him, knocking Harry to the floor, and proceeded to lick his face affectionately. Hagrid pulled Fang off and poured Harry a mug of tea. 'So, how have you been, 'Arry?' asked Hagrid, watching him concernedly. Harry was surprised to find that he didn't feel like talking to Hagrid either. He remembered how distant he felt from the world ever since Sirius died last year and he had found out about the prophecy. It still felt as though he was trapped in some dark realm, kept away from the rest of the world.

    'Fine,' he lied, taking a sip of his tea. 'It's all fine,'

    Hagrid didn't look like he believed this, but nodded. 'Dumbledore tol' me abou' yer dreams,' he said quietly. Harry nodded. 'You havin' more o' them?'

    'No,' Harry shook his head. He suddenly felt as though he were boring Hagrid, but he didn't really care about that either. 'How's Grawp?'

    Hagrid beamed. 'He's great. You wanna see him?'

    'Maybe later,' said Harry quickly.

    'Ah, it's just as well. Needs to spend more time wit' Olympe, anyway,' said Hagrid. 'She's been taking care of him, you know. Apparates into the Forbidden Forest when she can, all the way from Beauxbatons,'

    'Really,' said Harry, who wasn't aware that people could Apparate that far.

    'Yeh'll be learnin' how to Apparate soon, 'Arry,' said Hagrid. 'Turnin' seventeen next year, aren' yeh? You'll be able to do magic outside Hogwarts on yer seventeenth birthday,'

    'That's good,' nodded Harry. Hagrid turned very sober.

    'I wan' yeh to know … Sirius—'

    'I have to go,' said Harry abruptly, standing up. Hagrid looked crestfallen.

    'Oh, okay then,' he nodded. 'I can tell you later, I s'pose,'

    'Er, yeah,' said Harry, but it wasn't true he knew. He didn't want to talk about Sirius to anyone, and certainly not to Hagrid, who seemed the angriest of everyone when Sirius had been accused of killing his parents. No, no one understood how he felt, and Hagrid was the one who understood the least.

*

    'Oh, good,' said Percy when he caught sight of Harry after he came back from Hagrid's. 'You can tell Ron that I want to speak to him. Now,'

    'Tell him yourself,' Harry retorted. He wasn't in the mood for this.

    'Watch your mouth, Potter,' said Percy in a warning tone. 'I'm a teacher, and I have full authority to give you a detention,'

    Harry didn't care. The worst detention he had had to date was with Professor Umbridge, and try as he might, Percy was nowhere close to the cruelty she possessed. 'Percy, do us all a favor. Take your detentions, and stuff them up your arse,' he said tiredly, then walked away, leaving Percy to gawp.

    He didn't tell Ron anything, but went to his room and lay in his bed. Just then, the door burst open, and Ron and Seamus stumbled in, laughing about something. 'Hey, Harry,' said Seamus when he caught sight of his friend.

    'Where have you been?' asked Ron. 'You missed all the fun. Fred and George were just here and they delivered some of their products. We just set them off on Filch,'

    'Yeah. He was really angry to find _another_ swamp. And this one is right outside his office too, so he can't get in,' said Seamus. He noticed Harry's lack of enthusiasm. 'Hey, you alright mate?'

    'I'm fine,' said Harry, flashing Seamus a tight smile. 'Just tired,'

    'Oh. Where have you been?' asked Ron again.

    Harry hesitated. 'Hagrid's,' he admitted.

    Ron frowned, obviously hurt that Harry hadn't included him and Hermione in his visit. 'Oh. How was it?'

    Harry shrugged. 'Fine.' He didn't feel like talking, and Seamus could tell because he pulled Ron by the arm.

    'Rest up, mate,' said Seamus. 'Quidditch tomorrow. We'll let you go to sleep now,'

     Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward his roommate. Or was he more now? Was Seamus his boyfriend? Or friend? Or a snogging partner? Harry didn't know, and he didn't have the energy to ponder on it, so when the two of them left, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

    Voldemort was having mixed emotions. Harry seemed to be hiding behind a column, hidden from sight. From what he could see, Voldemort was sitting on some sort of throne, and the Death Eaters were cowering before him. Ordinarily,' said Voldemort, 'your lack of results would be met with my disappointment. However, I have been given a tip today by one of our _younger_ recruits. A very valuable tip indeed. You know that I have long suspected the Ministry of knowing the existence of our goal, but now I think that they have the key. Bode, however, is a lost cause. We must use someone else …'

    'Yes sir,' came the dull murmurs of the Death Eaters.

    'Word of this must not get out to Dumbledore or Potter,' said Voldemort. 'I will not have my plans ruined by the two of them again. You are all disposable, and believe me when I say that if I catch anyone saying the name of our goal, you _will_ be disposed of,'

    There was a dull chorus of agreement, and the scene disappeared. Harry sat up in his bed, choking and gasping. He didn't know why, but it suddenly felt as though he were suffocating. Finally, he was able to breathe again, and lay back on the mattress. He repressed the urge to groan. It felt as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to his head.

    He suddenly felt very tired, and closed his eyes, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

*

    Many Gryffindors were assembled in the Quiddtich Pitch the next evening. 'Okay,' said Madam Hooch. 'I've taken into consideration previous games and seniority and such, and I've decided who is the new Quidditch captain. Bell …' she turned to Katie, who looked excited, 'I know you've been here longer than Harry, but he's a very good flier. And you're in your final year now, and if you were captain, I would simply have to name Potter captain next year,'

    Katie looked disappointed for a second, but then smiled, and clapped Harry on the back. 'There you go, Harry,' she said, grinning. 'All your hard work has paid off. Congratulations,'

    'Yes, Potter,' said Madam Hooch. 'Congratulations. Now, you have to train the new blood,'

    'Are you sure you're okay with this?' asked Harry, turning to Katie.

    'I'm fine,' she said, her eyes shining. 'Besides, I only wanted to be captain for the title. At least it's not my responsibility to teach the new ones,'

    Harry grinned. 'Listen up, everyone,' said Madam Hooch. 'I'd like to introduce you to your new Quidditch captain: Harry Potter!'

    There were claps and whistles all around. 'Well, Potter, good luck,' said Madam Hooch, walking away.

    'Okay, we have … Colin Creevey,' said Harry, consulting the list of people Madam Hooch had given him. 'Mount your broom. Katie is going to be an opposing Chaser trying to get the Quaffle into the hoops. Let's see how you stop her,'

    Colin didn't do very well. He flew directly at Katie, but his broom was shaky. When he reached out to grab the Quaffle, he almost lost his balance, and retracted his hand so that he could hold the broom with both hands, giving Katie the perfect opportunity to shoot the Quaffle into the hoop. Next, Harry instructed Katie to give the ball to Colin. He wanted to see how good Colin's aim was by making him throw the Quaffle into the hoops from a fair distance. It didn't go well. He fumbled and almost dropped the red ball when Katie tossed it to him, and he missed the hoops completely.

    'I was nervous,' he whined when he got down. 'Everyone was watching me,'

    Harry sighed. 'Colin, what do you expect people are going to be doing when the matches are on? I'm sorry, but I don't think it would work,'

    And it continued this way for the next two hours. Harry had to tell two first years that they could only join the Quidditch team during their second year, had to bring down a third year who had suddenly become petrified with fear when she was twenty feet in the air, and had to tell some students who were trying out for Beaters that the Beaters position would be auditioned for tomorrow. In the end, Harry had decided on Seamus and a fourth year girl named Annette Coral for the two positions.

    He was surprised to see Neville hanging around, and remembered that Neville had been reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_ the previous day. 'Hey Neville,' he welcomed. 'Did you want to try out for Chaser? We could try you out now, I guess …'

    Neville blushed furiously. 'Um, no. Actually, I wanted to try and become t—the commentator?' he asked more than said.

    'Oh!' Harry was struck by realization.  'So that's why you were reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_!'

    'Right,' nodded Neville. 'I wanted to learn all the fouls and maneuvers that the players do,'

    'Well, I think you have the wrong place,' said Harry. 'I think you need to meet with Professor McGonagall and the other Head of Houses. After all, I'm sure students from other houses are being considered,'

    'Right,' Neville nodded. 'Thanks, Harry,' 

    Seamus came up to Harry then, wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulders, and kissed him on the cheek. 'I can't believe I made the team!'

    'Yes, well, you deserved it,' said Harry. Neville didn't seem to think that the kiss was out of the ordinary. Perhaps he thought that Seamus kissed him out of gratitude. Come to think of it, that was probably true.

    'Anyway, I think I'll owl me mam,' continued Seamus. 'See you, Harry. You too, Neville,'

    'Bye,' said Harry and Neville together. Seamus waved and walked away. Shortly after his departure, Ron and Ginny came up to them. 'I like this Annette Coral,' said Ginny. 'She seems nice,'

    'Yes, and she's talented too,' Harry nodded. 'I couldn't believe some of the horrors that tried out today,'

    Ron giggled. 'Especially that big guy who looked like he wanted to shove your Firebolt up your arse when you rejected him,'

    'Or that girl who tried to flirt her way onto the team,' added Ginny. She grabbed Harry's left arm and caressed his bicep. '"Oh my, what nice muscles you have …' she mimicked. '"Have you always known you wanted to defeat You-Know-Who?" Honestly! I couldn't believe that she was a Gryffindor!'

    'She didn't say that,' chided Ron.

    'No. Saying something like that would have been too intelligent for her,' Ginny shot back, releasing Harry's arm. 'I can't believe you actually gave her a tryout,' she said to Harry.

    'I couldn't turn her away. If she was good, it wouldn't matter if she were a complete idiot,' said Harry. He shivered. 'Thank goodness she could barely get off the ground, though. Imagine having to deal with that until graduation,'

    'What about you?' asked Ginny, her attention on Neville now, 'I don't remember you trying out?'

    'As if I could,' said Neville, but it wasn't in a defeated tone. 'I'm going to try out for commentator instead,'

    'Hmm. You know, I almost tried out for that before Fred and George got kicked off the team,' said Ginny.

    'Oi, can we cut the talk?' asked Ron. 'I'm starving. I hope there's something good for dinner,'

    Harry suddenly remembered about his dream last night. 'I'll have to catch up with you,' he said. 'I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore first,'

    'What about?' asked Ron. 'Not another dream about You-Know-Who is it?'

    'Can't be,' said Ginny dubiously. 'You've been practicing Occlumency, haven't you, Harry?'

    'No,' he said.  'It's nothing but a load of rubbish. Even Dumbledore said that I don't need it, and …' he trailed off, and his three friends turned to see what he was staring at. Percy was coming up to them, fury etched on his face.

    'Fifty points from Gryffindor for your cheek yesterday, Potter,' said Percy tightly. 'And detention with Mr. Filch this Friday at six p.m.,' he turned to Ron. 'So! Mum and Dad came to see me the other day. How _dare_ you read my letters?'

    'Oh, so you still consider us your family then?' asked Ron, feigning surprise.

    'Ten points from Gryffindor,' snapped Percy. 'And a further ten points for reading my things!'

    Ron gaped. 'You can't do that!'

    'I,' said Percy pompously, 'am a teacher. I am fully entitled to subtract points from the houses,'

    'Not on a personal vendetta, you don't!' cried Ginny. Percy stared death glares at her, and Harry half-expected him to take away a further ten points because she talked to him. However, he just wheeled around, and walked back to the school.

    'Git,' said Ron.

    'At least he only took twenty points from you,' said Harry. 'I expected him to take off a hundred for your joke and reading his letter,'

    'Family discount,' said Ron darkly.

    'What's going on?' asked Ginny confusedly. Neville was looking a bit curious too. 'Why is he so upset about you reading his letter?'

    'Because brother dear is getting married,' said Ron dryly. 'And I owled Mum and Dad and now he's all indignant. If you ask me, he's lucky they didn't drag him all the way home by the ear,'

    'I don't believe him!' exclaimed Ginny. 'When was he planning on telling us?'

    'Probably never, if he had his way,' said Ron.

    'I don't think he realizes that this is Fudge's way of demoting him,' said Ginny vehemently.

    'What do you mean?' asked Harry, Ron and Neville.

    Ginny stared at them. 'You don't know?' she asked. 'Think about it; Percy gets promoted so that he can spy on us and the Or—uh … the house—' she eyed Neville apprehensively, '—and now that we proved to Fudge that You-Know-Who has returned, and in an instant, Percy's been moved from his office in the Ministry to an office in Hogwarts. Fudge is obviously trying to get rid of him and find someone better,'

    Harry ad never thought about it this way, and had to admit that it made perfect sense. 'You know, that's really brilliant,' he said to Ginny. 'Fudge is trying to let go of Percy without really letting him know about it. He's not planning to come back and teach us anymore, is he?'

    'I would be surprised to see him here, unless it involved Ministry business,' said Ginny wisely.

    'Then again, he might not be allowed to go anywhere on Ministry business soon, eh?' said Neville coyly. 

    They made their way up to the Great Hall, Ginny raging about Percy's intentions of getting married, and saw Seamus and Annette talking excitedly to their friends. 'Hey, Harry!' said Colin, seeing him. 'I thought that I could try out for Beater practice tomorrow,'

    'Er, right,' said Harry, taking his seat next to Hermione. 'Sure,'

    'Dennis wants to try out too,' Colin continued. 'Wouldn't it be great Harry? Two brothers taking the place of Fred and George. I bet—' he continued talking, and Harry rolled his eyes.

    'I hear that the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws already have their teams,' said Hermione.

    'Yes, well, they didn't lose as many players as we did,' said Ron. 'Beater tryouts are tomorrow,'

    As he had dropped Care of Magical Creatures, he had a free period after breakfast on Tuesday. Ron, meanwhile, had decided to take up Muggle Studies and was dreading it. In Herbology, they were taught about the Mercury Fly-Traps, and they had moved on Liquid Metamorphism, the study of turning objects into water, which was just as hard as Marble Transformations. In the end, Hermione had managed to turn her apple into a puddle of water for approximately two seconds before it transformed back into its former state.

    In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Percy taught them about Nymphs, little elf-like creatures that lived near streams that had powers to rival some wizards, Carnals, Grims and Thestrals. Percy didn't allow talking, but at least he taught some things that they didn't know, with the exception of Carnals, which Professor Lupin had already taught them.

    Harry had the period after lunch free, and some people went to Divination. Ron and Hermione had Muggle Studies, so Harry just went up to the Gryffindor common room. There were no other students. Most of them were outside, but Harry was eager to get in some practice of Marble Transformations and Liquid Metamorphism. Just as he was saying '_Marmor!_' for the third time, the portrait opened, and Seamus walked in, and went straight up to him and sat next to Harry.

    'Hey,' he said.

    'Hi Seamus,' said Harry, feeling a blush creep up his face. 'What's up?'

    Seamus shrugged. 'Nothing much. Trying out the Marble Transformations?'

    'Yes. I'm really behind,' Harry sighed. '_Marmor!_'

    Nothing. 'Don't worry about it,' Seamus consoled. 'No one has it yet. It's really tough,'

    'I know,' Harry nodded. 'Even Hermione can't do it,'

    Seamus nodded, and the two of them were launched in silence once again. 'So, will you take a break then?' Seamus asked finally. 'All work and no play makes Harry a dull boy,'

    Harry laughed. 'I can't believe you just said that,'

    Seamus grinned. 'Well, you get my point.' There was silence again. 'Can I kiss you?'

    Harry felt a jolt in his stomach, and couldn't hide a smile. The thought of kissing Seamus excited him. 'Yes,' he said. Seamus leaned forward and captured Harry's lips in his own. After a minute or so, Harry felt Seamus's tongue probing his lips, and he opened them. He felt Seamus's tongue enter his mouth and explore every crevice and he kissed back. He moaned into Seamus's kiss, as it deepened, and as he and Seamus both got bolder with each other. 'Fuck,' Harry swore when they broke apart to catch their breath. 'Oh, God,'

    'I love the way you swear,' said Seamus. They locked lips again, and Harry felt Seamus's hand trail down. It stopped at his chest, and Seamus stroked his erect left nipple, then went further down and tugged on the zipper of his pants under his robe. Harry let him. Within a moment, his hard cock flew out. Seamus broke away from the kiss, and spit into his right hand. Then he gripped Harry's cock, and slowly started to stroke, the spit acting as lubrication. Harry, who had never felt anyone's hand but his own, gasped in pleasure.

    His hand quickening just a little bit, Seamus kissed Harry again. 'Oh, Harry,' he whispered, before attacking the boy's mouth with his tongue again.

    'Mmph,' Harry moaned, his hand rubbing Seamus's strong back. He felt a drop of pre-cum ooze out of the head out of his cock before it was swept away by Seamus's hand, serving as more lube. Orgasm was close, and Harry thanked God that he was sitting down, because if he had been standing up, he surely would have fallen. More cum poured out of his cock. 'Seamus …' Harry whispered. 'I'm … I'm …'

    'Cum for me,' Seamus said softly. 'Cum for me, Harry,' and then he went down and wrapped his lips around Harry's nipple. Having his clothes on prevented full pleasure, but it was enough. Harry came. Moaning, he shot his wad on Seamus's hand, and hit Seamus—who was licking his nipple—in the chin. He shot five times. When Seamus pulled away, he licked the cum off his hand. 'Tasty,' he commented.

    Harry watched him licking his cum again, and then leaned forward. He didn't kiss Seamus, but licked off his own cum from the Irish's chin. When it was all gone, Harry had to admit that it did taste good. He and Seamus kissed once more, sharing the taste of Harry's seed between them.

*

    That evening, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Katie, Seamus and Annette were gathered at the Quidditch Pitch with the hopeful students all vying to be the new Beaters. The first to go were Colin, followed by Dennis. They were to try to hit as many Bludgers as possible, but they weren't the best.

    Harry had to tell six people over and over that they had to meet Professor McGonagall if they were trying out for commentator. 'Hey, Harry,' said Katie. 'I think we have a potential,'

    'Really? Who?' inquired Harry.

    'Hi,' said a girl who Harry had never met before. She had long blond hair and looked strangely familiar. 'I'm Ambrosia Spinnet. My sister Alicia was a Chaser on the team,'

    'Oh, hi,' said Harry, realizing that she reminded him of Alicia Spinnet, his former fellow Quidditch player. 'You want to be a Beater?'

    'Well, I wanted to be a Chaser, but I had detention yesterday from Professor Weasley,' she scowled. 'So I'm trying out for Beater instead,'

    'Well …' Beaters needed to be hefty as they could easily be unseated by Bludgers, and Harry had yet to see a female Beater. He was unsure if Ambrosia had the size necessary.

    'Don't worry,' said Katie as though she read Harry's mind. 'I've seen the way Amber—'

    'Ambrosia,' she corrected.

    '—_Ambrosia_,' she amended, 'plays. She's a good Beater. She aims well, and she can hit,'

    'Alright,' Harry nodded. 'Mount your broom. Ginny will follow you,'

    The two of them flew into the air, and Harry released the Bludgers, which headed straight for them. Ambrosia was able to soar and hit all the Bludgers, even the ones that weren't headed for her. When Ginny accidentally hit one to her, she was able to swerve out of the way. She wasn't Fred and George, but Harry could tell that with a bit of training, she would be as good as they were.

    Finally, Harry had his people. The new line up was Seamus, Ron, Ginny, Katie, Annette, Ambrosia and himself. Harry had decided that a boy named Lorne Horatio had potential as a Beater too, and named her and Ambrosia as the new Beaters. 'It would be good to have backups, however,' he said. He named Ginny as Lorne's replacement, as the replacement before her had already graduated. Ginny, who had been stressed last year as she had been Harry's replacement, was very happy about this

    'What about me, Harry?' chirped Colin.

    Harry sighed. Colin wasn't going to give up. 'Sorry, Colin, but the rest of the replacements are still in school,'

    Colin was disappointed, but Harry couldn't be more relieved. 'Okay, we have our new team,' he announced. 'I'd like to thank everyone who came out to try for the positions. You were all … er …' he caught Colin's eye. 'Good,' he lied.

*

    That Friday, there was a party in Gryffindor Tower after the sixth-years came back from their Astronomy class. Harry didn't know why he was even bothering to take Astronomy, but didn't drop it either. It had provided a good excuse, however, for him to get out of detention with Filch early. If he hadn't had Astronomy at nine, he was willing to bet Filch would have kept him until midnight. The Gryffindors were in a very good mood, and the players were hugged and patted and congratulated over and over.

    Harry caught Seamus's eye, and realized that he wanted to kiss him again, but managed to restrain himself. He didn't know how well the other Gryffindors would take it if they found out that the famous Harry Potter liked kissing another boy. 'Hey, Harry!' called one of the Gryffindors. 'Congratulations as captain!'

    'Thanks!' Harry called back, the name of the student escaping him. Lorne, who was third year, had gotten a real popularity boost and was seen talking and laughing with several fifth years. Ginny, Annette and Ambrosia were currently bonding by talking and joking with each other. 

    He felt someone grip his arm, and turned around, expecting to see Seamus or Ron. Instead, he looked straight into the eyes of Sirius. Harry's throat went dry. No, he thought wildly. No, it was impossible. Sirius was dead. He had imagined seeing him before, but now Sirius was _touching_ him. It wasn't possible…

    He tried to say Sirius's name, but he couldn't form the words. 'Harry!'

    Harry turned to see Seamus behind him, grinning and holding two bottles of Butterbeer. 'Hey, why are you just standing there? Join the party!' Seamus roared, thrusting him one of the bottles. He obviously couldn't see Sirius. Seamus didn't know that Sirius was innocent, nor did he know that he was dead, and would have started screaming immediately at the sight of him. And Harry knew that ghosts were visible. What did that make Sirius.

    'Erm, thanks,' he said hoarsely. He felt Sirius releasing his arm, and in a moment, he was no longer there. Harry kept staring at the space where Sirius stood just a moment before, not knowing what to make of it.

  
A/N: I hope you liked it. Read and Review, please?


	6. Chapter Six

_The Department of Intelligence_

    Harry didn't know what he was going to do with these visions he kept having. When he told Ron and Hermione, they gazed at him pitifully, and told him that Sirius was dead, and there was nothing else to it. Ron suggested that he go to Madam Pomfrey, while Hermione insisted that this was a situation better suited for Dumbledore.

    Harry had to admit that this year was one of his worst. Percy was an absolute nightmare, the pile of homework (especially for Transfigurations) was building up quickly, he had to teach the Slytherins Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then teach the members of Dumbledore's Army real classes, the Quidditch season was coming up, meaning that he had to train the team, and on top of it all, he was easily distracted by thoughts of Seamus.

    For once, Harry could escape only in his dreams. He had had no further dreams of Voldemort, nor did he have any visions of Sirius at night. 'At least you don't have Muggle Studies,' said Ron when Harry told him about his hectic schedule (minus a few things such as Seamus) one day. 'I have no idea how they expect us to remember these things. We've gone to something called the telly, and I keep messing it up with the felly—I mean telephone. Why do they sound the same?'

    'Well, if you listened in class, you'd know that it's called the television, not the telly,' said Hermione hotly. 'The telephone is quite different,'

    'I know,' said Ron darkly. 'I still remember the first time I used one,'

    Harry grinned. Ron had used the telephone for the first time during the summer after their second year, and had screamed into Uncle Vernon's ear, asking to speak to Harry. 'I'm surprised you're only at the television,' Harry said to Hermione. 'It's quite basic, isn't it?'

    'Well, we did a basic study on it during our fourth year,' said Hermione. 'Now, we're going through mass communication through the ages. We've already done the radio—'

    'I liked that one,' said Ron.

    'You would,' Hermione glared. 'Witches have radios too. We had to study the circuitry,' she said, her attention back on Harry, 'of the radio, now we're going through the television and its wiring. We're doing computers next. In our fourth year, all we learned was that they received signals and that its outer appearance changed through the ages,'

    It was Wednesday, the Gryffindors day to practice. The Ravenclaws had Monday, the Hufflepuffs, Tuesday, and the Slytherins had Friday. Harry was beginning to regret his decision to put Seamus on the team. He found it very hard to concentrate when the Irish boy was around, and usually felt like throwing caution into the wind and snogging him, even if they were in public. They hadn't done anything since Seamus had given him that handjob last week, and Harry was eager to play a more active role. However, his schedule was keeping him from Seamus.

    Hermione dropped them off at the Quidditch pitch. 'Where are you going while we practice?' asked Ron.

    'Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll just stay in the common room,' said Hermione. Harry had a bad feeling that she wasn't telling them everything, and he could guess what it was; the house-elves had returned to cleaning Gryffindor Tower, and he was sure that she would try to make more outfits for them, but he didn't say anything.

    The other Gryffindors were waiting for them by the time Harry and Ron arrived. Seamus flashed Harry a smile, and Harry felt heat creep up to his cheeks. He smiled back. 'Okay, mount your brooms,' he said.  Harry saw Seamus climb on his broom, a Golden Streak, and zoom into the air, followed by the rest of the team. Harry opened up the kit with the four balls, and the Bludgers shot into the air as soon as they were released, narrowly missing his nose. Harry released the Quaffle and the Snitch and then flew on his Firebolt.

    Lorne and Ambrosia kept the Bludgers away from the other players, allowing Katie to score. Ron grumbled to himself because he missed an easy shot, and they were at it again. Seamus didn't spend much time going after the Quaffle, and Harry saw him staring at something in his direction, before he realized that Seamus was staring at _him_.

    Annette got two more shots in, and Seamus got one, and Ron saved another two before they realized that they were being watched. 'Who's that?' asked Ron, pointing a pale boy with black hair who was watching the team. Harry squinted and flew down a little closer, and realized that it was a first year. 'It's that Apreck boy!' he said. 'He's a Slytherin!'

    'What's he doing?' asked Annette.

    'Spying on us,' said Katie angrily. 'He can't do that!'

    Harry flew to the ground, followed closely by the rest of the team. Realizing that he had been spotted, Apreck made a run for it, but Harry had his wand. Pulling it out, he yelled, '_Petrificus__ Totallus!' and Apreck was immobile._

    When Harry gripped the Slytherin's collar, Katie used her own wand and said, '_Finite Incantatem!_' unfreezing Apreck from his spot. 'Did the Slytherins send you here to spy on us?' asked Harry.

    'No,' said Apreck defensively. Harry didn't believe him.

    'Who's the new Slytherin captain?' he asked.

    'D—Draco Malfoy,' Apreck stammered.

    'I knew it,' Ron hissed. It was exactly the kind of thing Malfoy would do.

    'Let go of him, Potter,' said a cold, drawling voice. Harry looked up to see Malfoy standing behind the team. They turned around and glared at him. 'He's telling the truth. I didn't send him. Why should I? I already know you'll be the worst captain in history,'

    'And yet I've always caught the Snitch when I play against you, Malfoy,' Harry retorted.

    'I think it would be best if we ask him why he's here,' said Malfoy. 'You should know better, Potter. I'm a sixth-year. I do not associate with mere first-years,'

    Harry realized that this was true. Malfoy seemed to be too arrogant to hang around someone younger than him. 'Why are you here?' he asked Apreck.

    'I wanted to spy on the team, so that I could be placed in next year,' Apreck confessed. Malfoy rolled his eyes. 'When I delivered information to Mr. Malfoy, he would be sure to place me next year,'

    'Wrong,' said Malfoy coldly. 'Our prestigious team only accepts the best,'

    'They accepted you, didn't they?' muttered Ron under his breath. Malfoy looked coldly at him and sneered.

    'Yes they did, Weasley,' he said. 'I wonder how you ever got in. I was obviously the best, or I wouldn't be team captain now, would I? We, unlike Gryffindor, still have many of our players around. Potter here was chosen—' he locked eyes on Katie, '—because there was no other alternative,'

    'Why, you—' Katie snarled, launching herself onto him, but was held back by Harry and Seamus. Malfoy laughed derisively.

    'I'll let you get back to your … training. You'll need it. Good luck, Weasley. Your _Highness,'_

    Ron inhaled sharply, but didn't do anything. 

    'Come on,' said Harry. 'We have to go back to training,'

*

    '… an absolute nightmare,' said Ron as he and Harry trudged back into Gryffindor tower. Ron was still fuming about the encounter with Malfoy, and Harry wasn't paying much attention. 'Potter!'

    Harry and Ron turned to see Professor Snape walking quickly up to them, and Harry briefly thought of running. 'I have just received a complaint,' said Snape in his coldest voice when he reached them, 'from a Mr. Richard Apreck. Seems that he was outside the school, trying to relax from a hard day's work by walking around, and he was suddenly immobilized. By you,'

    'He's lying,' said Harry at once.

    'You deny using the Petrifying Charm, then?' said Snape.

    'No,' Harry said quickly, knowing that Snape would just think up a worse punishment than detention if he lied. 'I did, but he was watching us practice! He was spying!'

    'Mr. Apreck swears on the Slytherin flag that he was merely trying to relax,' said Snape. Harry burned, knowing that Snape had just made that up. Apreck had most probably come screaming to Snape, told him everything, and run away. 'And anyway, magic is not allowed to be performed on students, much less on the Quidditch pitch. Ten points from Gryffindor, and detention this Friday,'

    He left before Harry could protest.

    'Oh, Harry,' said Hermione in despair when he told her later. 'You've lost sixty points for Gryffindor and the Quidditch season hasn't even started yet!'

    'I'm just lucky he didn't take fifty,' said Harry. 'That means he knows that I was justified in my actions, but he just doesn't want to admit it,'

    'But you _weren't justified, Harry,' said Hermione. 'Professor Snape is right. Magic _shouldn't_ be used on students no matter what. Have you ever seen Wood use magic on any of the Slytherins?'_

    'Well, Wood didn't have such problems, did he?' asked Harry. 'And anyway, Ron tried to curse Malfoy in our second year. No one punished him for that,'

    'They probably would have,' said Ron. 'If the spell hadn't backfired, that is,'

    Harry let out a sound of disgust. 'I'm going up to my room,' he said, getting up. He went up the Boys' staircase, and into his room to find Seamus sitting on his bed.

    'Need comforting?' asked Seamus with an amused smile.

    Harry smiled back. 'Very much so,' he said, walking to his bed, and enveloped into Seamus's arms. In a moment, Harry felt his lips being crushed by Seamus's. 'Mmm,' he smiled, kissing back, and entering Seamus's mouth.

    The door opened, and they heard a great gasp, and broke away. Ron was standing there, staring at them, a mixture of shock and horror on his face. 'What's going on?' he asked, shutting the door behind him. 'What are you doing to Harry?'

    'Ron, we were just—'

    'This doesn't concern you,' Ron snapped at Harry. Harry fell silent.

    'We were snogging,' said Seamus baldly.

    'Snogging?' Ron couldn't seem to believe it, though he had just seen them, and heard Seamus confess.

    'Yes. Kissing. Making out.'

    'Don't get smart, Finnigan,' warned Ron.

    'Ron, this isn't about you,' said Harry. 'I know what I'm doing,'

    'I don't think you do,' said Ron, turning on Harry. 'Harry, not only is Seamus a friend, he's a _boy!'_

    'Does that make me a boyfriend then?' Seamus laced his fingers through Harry's. Ron glared at him, but Harry was staring at his friend, as if seeing him in a new light.

    'Are you … homophobic?' he asked Ron slowly.

    'No, Harry. It's just … _wrong,' said Ron._

    'Uh, Ron, that's what homophobes usually feel about this,' said Harry. 'Ron, please don't tell me that you can't handle this,'

    'I _can_ handle this, Harry,' said Ron in a tired voice. 'It—it just came out wrong. Seamus is a good friend. And he's your roommate. What if this doesn't work out? How are you going to be friends with him again? What if you can't play Quidditch with him again? What if you can't even sleep or be in the same room as him?'

    Even though these were worrying questions, Harry felt a surge of relief. Ron could accept this. Ron wouldn't hate him. 'I'll be fine, Ron,' said Harry. Ron glanced at Seamus, whose fingers were still laced through Harry's.

    'Just … take care of yourself,' he said to Harry. Harry nodded. Ron left the room.

    'Take care of yourself,' repeated Seamus. 'Does that mean that I'm a danger to you?'

    Harry faced Seamus, and realized that he wanted more. 'Only the good kind,' he said. He placed his hand on Seamus's chest, and pushed him down on the bed, then began kissing him feverishly. 'Seamus,' he whispered.

    'Yeah?' Seamus managed to ask before kissing Harry again.

    'I want you …' said Harry, before pausing to kiss him again, 'to do more than just kiss me tonight,'

    Seamus stopped. 'Are—are you sure?'

    'Yes,' Harry was astounded by how bold he was. He had never tried this before, but he wanted to go all the way with Seamus.  He unbuttoned the clasp on his robe and it fell off, and he began unbuttoning his shirt. 'I'm sure,'

    Seamus pushed Harry's hand away and replaced it with his own. They began undressing each other slowly, purposely. Seamus embraced Harry with another kiss, and they were soon naked. 'Wait,' Seamus whispered. He gripped his wand, and flicked it at the edge of Harry's bed. The drapes of the four-poster closed on them, giving them privacy. Seamus's lips returned to work, as he trailed down and kissed Harry's neck, and went even lower. He suckled on Harry's right nipple first, turning it red and raw. Then he did the left.

    Encouraged by Harry's growls of pleasure, he went lower, until his nose brushed against Harry's black curls. He took in a lock of the pubic hair into his mouth and dampened it before letting it go. It curled back in Harry's groin in a clump. Harry's cock was crying out for attention, and Harry was voicing it out. Seamus pushed back the foreskin of the seven inched cock, and his tongue darted out to touch the forehead. Harry gasped in pleasure, and Seamus allowed his tongue to lick the head.

    'Oh, Seamus …' Harry yowled. 

    Seamus swathed his lips over the head of Harry's cock. He flipped Harry over, so that the Boy Who Lived was at the bottom, and he was on top. 'I need …' Harry said, hardly able to maintain a steady voice, ' … your cock,'

    Seamus pulled off Harry's dick, listening to Harry groan in disappointment. He spread his legs and turned his body so that his legs fit either side of Harry's head, and so that his cock was directly over Harry's mouth. Harry drew it in, and proceeded to blow him. Seamus moaned around Harry's cock, but pulled off again, to snatch his wand. '_Silencio__!' he murmured, casting a Silencing Spell over them. He felt Harry's tongue on his eight inch pole, and moaned again, but this time, it couldn't be heard due to the Silencing Spell._

    The two boys 69-ed like this for a while. Harry paused every time he felt Seamus approaching orgasm, trying to make it last, but finally couldn't hold back. He felt his own orgasm approaching, and Seamus didn't bother to stop it. Harry tried to cry 'Fuck!' but his mouth was occupied by Seamus's fat cock, and no one could have heard it anyway due to the charm. His balls tightened.

    He came.

    He shot many times into Seamus's mouth, and he convulsed from the pleasure, his back flying upward. He continued to suck as well, and Seamus fell over the edge. He blew his wad in Harry's mouth, crying out silently, overcome by the sense of relief. He licked the head of Harry's cock after he came, knowing that the head was most sensitive after orgasm. As expected, Harry thrashed around, and Seamus had to use his hands to keep his legs in check.

    He rolled off Harry, and noticed that they were both sweating. '_Finite Incantatem_,'

    Harry didn't know what to do. He had just had sex for the first time, and it was the most pleasurable experience he ever felt. In fact, the only thing that could come close to the feelings he had felt during the encounter was the feelings he felt now, during the afterglow.

    After a moment, Seamus turned to him and kissed him on the cheek. Lying on his side, he kissed Harry on the lips. 'You're a natural, you know that?' he asked him.

    'Really?' Harry grinned.

    'Yep,' Seamus nodded. Harry watched him. Seamus was just too irresistible like this, covered in a sheen of sweat. Harry couldn't pass it up. He leaned towards Seamus and kissed him. He descended and sucked on his neck, wanting to leave a bruise there. To let everybody who dared to look at Seamus know that he was taken. He sank lower, after making sure that there was a hickey on his neck, to Seamus's chest. He ignored Seamus's small nipples, however, and buried his face in armpit. There were a few hairs there and Harry licked them over and over. 

    He pulled off, and aimed for Seamus's lips again, when Seamus stopped him. 'Harry let's talk,'

    They sat upright. 'Harry, we've kissed, and I've given you a handjob, and we've had sex—'

    'Amazing sex,' Harry corrected.

    '_Incredible_ sex,' said Seamus. 'But we've done all this stuff, and we've never even gone on a date. Or …' he trailed off.

    'What?' Harry probed.

    'I don't think you want me to ask,' said Seamus seriously.

    Harry chuckled. 'Yes, I do,' he said. 'Come on, tell me,'

    Seamus eyed Harry solemnly. 'Do you … do you want to make it … official?'

    'Are you asking me to marry you?' Harry smirked.

    'No!' Seamus exclaimed, before he realized that Harry was joking. 'I mean … do you …'

    'Yes?'

    'Well … I, um, I look at you,' Seamus stuttered. 'And you … do you know what you really need, Harry?'

    'No, what?'

    'A bo—a man,' said Seamus soberly. 'Someone to protect you, and to hold your hand when you need him, and someone to … love you?' it was more of a question than it was a statement.

    'What were you going to say before?' asked Harry coyly.

    'Nothing,'

    'Seamus …'

    'I said that what you really need a boyfriend,' Seamus admitted. He looked timid.

    'I won't bite,' said Harry tenderly. 'Go ahead, ask me to be your boyfriend.'

    Seamus's face cracked into a smile. 'Okay,' he said. 'Do you … will you be my boyfriend?'

    Harry didn't laugh, which he was sure was the root of Seamus's fear that took him so long to stammer out the words. 'Yes,' he said earnestly. 'Yes, I do.'

    Seamus looked elated. 'Really?'

    'Really,' said Harry, kissing him full on the lips.

*

    'Wow, what happened?' asked Hermione when Harry came down that night. He had a look of pure delight on his face.

    'Nothing,' said Harry contentedly. 'Everything is amazingly, unbelievably … perfect,'

    Ron, who was sitting next to Hermione, shot him a do-I-even-want-to-know look. Harry just beamed.

    'Uh-oh,' said Hermione, who had spotted a group of second-years playing with a box. 'Ron, we have to go. Prefect duties,'

    'What? Where?' Ron looked around, seeking for the trouble Hermione was talking about.

    'Over there. Those second-years,' Hermione nodded at the children. 'That's the box Fred and George delivered, isn't it? The one with the fireworks you were planning to save?'

    'Oi!' Ron yelled, catching sight of the second-years. 'Put that box down!' They hurried over to the second-years, leaving Harry alone to think about the events that had just transpired. A boyfriend, he thought giddily. I have a boyfriend.

    It seemed strange to him that these thoughts made him so happy. A year ago, he had been hung up on Cho Chang, and had barely noticed anybody else. This year, it was Seamus. He was a completely different person. He was a completely different sex. But it was _Seamus_. Harry only had to wonder why this hadn't happened sooner. He was beautiful. He was sexy. He made Harry feel as though he mattered. He was one of his best friends, and he was the only person in the world who could sweep him off his feet and make him feel this way after all that happened. It was Seamus after all, who had turned him off girls and on boys. Not just any boy. Him.

    For the rest of the night, Harry drifted on a cloud, interrupted only once when his scar hurt.

*

      The next morning, Hermione shoved the _Daily Prophet to him. 'Look at it,' she ordered. Harry did._

_INVASION ON MINISTRY_

_FOUR KILLED_

    'The Ministry of Magic suffered the tragic losses of Daria Osendrof and Eurich Coppleware, two Aurors who died to save the Ministry of Magic last night. The Ministry was attacked at precisely 10:58 p.m. by Death Eaters, and it is believed that they were sent in attempt to assassinate the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge.'

    'Fudge, already on thin ice with the International Confederation of Wizards for withholding information on the return of the Dark Lord, says that the Death Eaters have been out to get him ever since the summer began, as he threw some of them into Azkaban.'

'Bull,' said Harry.

    'Read on,' urged Hermione.

    'Fudge has refused to resign from his post as Minister, claiming that "this whole operation will fall without me", and has been forced to attend a hearing tried before the International Confederation of Wizards and the Wizengamot. The Death Eaters appeared last night without asking questions and immediately began shooting Killing Curses. Most wizards took cover, but one curse hit Alison McPherson, a Muggle-born. Aurors arrived at the scene, just as the death Eaters were advancing on Minister Fudge.'

    'Osendrof then Stunned one Death Eater, and Petrified two more, while Coppleware administered the Killing Curse on one. The Death Eaters retreated, but not before killing Osendrof and Coppleware and launching the Dark Mark over the Ministry. The Death Eater struck by Coppleware was later revealed to be Wallace Appleby, one of the members of the Department of Intelligence, who had never been accused of being a Death Eater, nor thrown into Azkaban.'

    'The funerals for McPherson, Osendrof, and Coppleware will be held this afternoon. The body of Appleby will be kept in the Department of Intelligence.'

Harry looked up.

    'Where's the Department of Intelligence?' he asked Ron. 'I was at the Ministry last year, and I didn't see it,'

    'Where did you go?' asked Ron.

    'Er, Level Seven to Level Two, then straight to the Atrium at Level Nine,' said Harry.

    'That explains it. The Department of Intelligence is in Level One,' Ron said. 'It's the most important department in the Ministry, except maybe for the Department of Mysteries. The Department of Intelligence is located in every Ministry of Magic in the world, and they're all interlocked. It's where they go to monitor the Floo Networks,'

    'So it's like the CIA?' asked Hermione.

    'The what?' Ron stared at her. Hermione sighed.

    'Never mind,' she said. 'We'll learn that this year or next year in Muggle Studies, I expect,'

    After the bell rang, they went to their classes. As it was Thursday, the Defense Association was on, followed by Dumbledore's Army. Harry arrived early and was trying his best to do Marble Transformations, while Ron and Hermione lounged about. 'You're not putting enough emphasis on it, I think,' said Hermione.

    'I'm trying,' Harry was getting frustrated by his lack of success. Just then, the door opened, and the students came in, led by Malfoy. Harry rolled his eyes. He was planning to teach them the Burning Charm today which he had learned in his second year. When the students took their place, Harry set up small boards. 'Everyone take out your wands, and flick it, then say "_Relashio__!"' he said._

    The class did it obediently. Seamus's board caught fire quickly, and was left in cinders. The rest did well too. Neville accidentally dropped his wand, setting the hem of Dennis Creevey's robes on fire. He yelped and jumped around, and Hermione put it out with her Water spell. Malfoy did his smoothly and efficiently, as though he had done it a million times.

    'Enough of this, Potter,' he said. 'When are we going to skip this and get to the good stuff?'

    'Every spell counts, Malfoy,' retorted Harry. 'Right, now I want everyone to learn how to do the Shield Charm. Take your wands, flick it three hundred and sixty degrees, and say "_Protego__!"'_

    Cho's wand flew out of her hand when she twirled it, and hit the wall. Neville dropped his wand once again, and Ron almost poked Hermione in the eye with his. 'Okay, try again,' said Harry. Everyone did it again, and it was much better. Cho blushed furiously when she almost dropped her wand again, but she managed to get a handle on things. '_Protego__!' bellowed the students. As the shield wasn't visible, Harry had to test it._

    '_Stupefy!_' he pointed his wand to Neville, but the red light didn't hit him. Figuring that if Neville could do it, so could everybody else. 'Now, we're going to duel with each other. You may use the Stupefying Charm and the Burning Spell, and deflect it with the Shield—' he stopped abruptly as the class began to dissolve.

    He was back in Voldemort's lair, sitting before the league of Death Eaters, who were bowing before him. One of them was trembling. 'I am surrounded by fools,' he said.

    'My Lord, please,' said a hooded Death Eater. 'We beg you—'

    'Silence, Nott,' said Harry. 'You have all failed me. I don't like being failed. Because of your actions, I have lost one of my most valuable followers. We no longer possess a link to the Department of Intelligence,'  
  


    'Yes, Master,' said a short Death Eater. 'But we can get another link, can we not? The Imperius Curse can be—'

    'The Imperius Curse was never meant to be administered this year, Wormtail,' Harry had lowered his voice to a dangerous whisper. 'This is my most dangerous plan to date. Our entire future depends on this, and I will not stand for such incompetence. I can easily kill you all and replace you with my newest allies in Hogwarts. True that they are inexperienced … but they will learn …'

    Harry paused suddenly. He looked around the room. 'He's here,' he said softly.

    'Master?'

    'He's here!' Harry screeched. 'Potter! He's here, listening to us!' Harry said to the Death Eaters. The scene disappeared, and Harry felt someone shaking him recklessly.

    'Harry!' he heard Seamus. He felt a sting on his face, and dimly registered that he had just been slapped. 'Harry!' Another slap. 'Potter,' he heard a cold voice. '_Ennervate__!'___

    'He wasn't stunned,' he heard Hermione say. 'He just … fell, Professor,'

    'I'm up, I'm up,' he said in a bleary voice. His eyes fluttered open to see Seamus, Ron, Hermione, and Snape standing over him. The three students wore frightened and worried expressions on their faces, but Snape looked as calm and collected as usual. He was clutching his wand.

    'What happened, Potter?' asked Snape.

    'I had … a vision,' said Harry. 'Voldemort,'

    'You had a vision about the Dark Lord,' Snape repeated.

    'How is that possible?' asked Hermione. 'You were awake,'

    'I don't know,' Harry shook his head. 'I saw him. I _was_—' he cut himself off, catching sight of the Slytherins who were watching him apprehensively. 'I need to go to Professor Dumbledore,' he told Snape.

    'I shall accompany you,' Snape agreed. Seamus offered Harry his hand, and he took it. When he got to his feet, Snape turned to the class. 'Dismissed,' he said. 'Potter is in no condition to resume class tonight. Back to your houses. Now.'

    The class departed, and Harry and Snape went to the stone gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office. 'Canary Custard,' said Snape. 'Unbelievable that the Headmaster actually liked those repulsive sweets those Weasleys made,' Harry heard him mutter to himself.

    They went into Dumbledore's office, and Harry was surprised to see the headmaster having tea with Sturgis Podmore. 'Ah, Harry, Severus. To what do I owe this pleasure?' asked Dumbledore pleasantly, setting his cup of tea on the table. Sturgis eyed Snape guardedly.

    'Potter has had a vision about the Dark Lord, Headmaster,' said Snape. 'And this time, he was awake,'

    Dumbledore looked inquiringly at Harry.

    'It's true, sir,' said Harry truthfully.

    'I see,' Dumbledore nodded. 'And what was it about, Harry?'

    'Er …' Harry sneaked a quick look at Snape, not sure if he should be telling this in front of the former Death Eater. 'Voldemort was talking about the attack on the Ministry,'

    'What about it?' asked Dumbledore.

    'He was angry about losing one of the Death Eaters,' said Harry. 'Wallace Appleby, from the Department of Intelligence. And Wormtail suggested that he use the Imperius Curse, but Voldemort was angry about that too because the Imperius Curse wasn't part of his plan. He—he also said that he has new allies. In Hogwarts,'

    'I see,' nodded Dumbledore pensively. 'Anything else?'

    'Er, yes,' said Harry. 'He knew that I was there. He was talking, and then suddenly knew that I was listening,'

    'And what position were you in during this vision, Harry?' asked Dumbledore.

    Harry hesitated. 'I was Voldemort,' he said finally. 'And he knew, even though he couldn't see me,'

    'Voldemort is getting stronger then,' said Dumbledore composedly. 'I had anticipated this.'

    There was an uncomfortable silence. Podmore was staring fixedly at the tea in his cup, and Snape was avoiding his eyes by looking at Fawkes as though he contained the secrets of the world. 'Professor,' Harry said.

    Dumbledore looked up.

    'Voldemort said that he had new followers here In Hogwarts,' said Harry. 'He threatened to kill off all his current Death Eaters, and replace them with his new ones. It sounded like had has a lot of them. They could be …' his eyes flicked to Snape's impassive face.

    'You suspect the Slytherins,' said Dumbledore bluntly.

    'Yes, sir,' said Harry softly. 'It's just that Voldemort used to be in Slytherin, and the past Slytherins ended up being his servants,'

    Dumbledore nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything.

    'Very well, Harry,' he said in a conclusive tone. 'I shall alert the Order about this. Now, have you had your dinner?'

    'Yes, sir,'

    'Very well, you may go back to Gryffindor Tower now. Severus, you have dismissed the Defense Association for today?'

    'I have, Headmaster,' said Snape complacently. 'Shall I direct Potter back to the Tower?'

    'I doubt Harry needs the extra help. But of course, that is for him to decide,' Dumbledore turned his blue eyes on Harry. 'Harry, do you wish to be accompanied by Professor Snape?'

    'No,' said Harry. 'I'll be fine,'

    As he turned to leave, he was stumped. Wasn't Dumbledore going to do something about this? Voldemort was obviously planning something. He had said it himself; this was his most dangerous plan yet. But surely it would lead to a very rewarding goal.

    Ron, Hermione and Seamus were waiting for him when he came back through the portrait. 'What happened?' Ron demanded as soon as Harry caught his eye.

    Harry shook his head. 'I'm not exactly sure,' he said. 'I told Dumbledore about the vision, but he didn't seem too concerned,'

    'What was your vision?' asked Hermione. 'Was it bad?'

    'Very,' sighed Harry. 'Voldemort—' Ron and Seamus cringed, '—was talking to the Death Eaters, and he was angry because of the attack on the Ministry,'

    'He didn't want there to be an attack on the Ministry?' Ron asked.

    'Of course not, Ron!' retorted Hermione. 'One of the Death Eaters was killed,'

    'Right,' nodded Harry. 'Appleby from the Department of Intelligence. Apparently, he was Voldemort's only link to that department, and without him, he's basically stuck,'

    'Why would You-Know-Who want to go to the Department of Intelligence?' Seamus wondered.

    Harry shrugged.

    'Maybe he's trying to connect with all purebloods through the Floo Network and try to convince them to join the Death Eaters or something,' he said, although this didn't sound very likely.

    'I doubt it,' said Ron. 'The Department of Intelligence is where they do a lot of other things, besides watching the Floo Network. My dad told me that that's where they keep records of the Animagi. The ones who are registered, that is,'

    Seamus frowned, and Harry knew he was wondering who they knew was an unregistered Animagus, but he didn't say anything. Harry was glad for that. He felt his scar twinge, and he knew that Voldemort was still angry, probably desperately seeking Harry. Or maybe the Death Eaters were being punished.

*

    October came, and the climate grew colder as the temperature dropped, and Harry could hardly believe that the time was passing so slowly. He had already learned that Voldemort had a bold new plan, and he had a boyfriend. Plus, the sixth-years were having more homework than ever.

    'I know I complained a lot last year about the amount of work they gave,' said Ron, as they went to lunch after Potions, 'but this really takes the cake. If they continue like this, I swear I'm just going to drop dead right here,'

    'Which is a lot less worse than what I would do,' muttered Harry.

    October meant that the Quidditch season was back on, and this brought raging tensions between the houses, especially the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Harry found himself dodging random hexes, which surprisingly attacked when he was around a group of Slytherin students.

    According to the list posted in the common room, the Quidditch season was to kick off with Gryffindor playing against the Slytherins. Harry and Draco had taken this opportunity to train their respective teams very hard, and returned to their dorms late at night.

    Potions had taken a definite turn for the worst. Snape seemed to be hoping to tire Harry out with so much work that he would sleep through the Quidditch match or something. Draco, who seemed to be a permanent partner for him in the class, did nothing to help when they were given practical work, instead choosing to whisper insults to him when Snape had his back turned.

    'Potter, I would like you to tell me what the color your potion is,' said Snape coldly, during one lesson.

    'Er … white,' said Harry, looking confused.

    'White,' nodded Snape. He turned to Draco.

    'And what, Mr. Malfoy, is the appropriate color of the potion?' he questioned.

    Malfoy smirked. 'Beige,' he answered smugly.

    'Ten points to Slytherin,' said Snape. He turned back to Harry, who looked completely nonplussed.

    'White,' Snape shook his head. 'Have you ever thought of getting a new pair of glasses, Potter? These seem to be defective. How many butterfly wings have you added, Potter?'

    'Two,' Snape and Malfoy shared a superior look with each other smug looks.

    'And how on earth did you manage to confuse two with three?' asked Snape, a twisted smile on his face. 'Granted that they share the letter 't' between them, but I would have thought you would have read the whole word,'

    Harry's heart sank when he saw the instructions Snape had read on the wall, and he glared furiously at Malfoy. He should have known something was up when he had offered to read out the instructions, and he inwardly reprimanded himself for accepting Malfoy's help.

    'Well, it is certainly too late to add the extra pair of butterfly wings,' continued Snape. 'Zero marks then, Potter,'

    Snape left them, and Harry turned on Draco. 'You know, the more you sabotage me, the more you're sabotage yourself,' hissed Harry. 'I would have thought you would have considered your own grades since we're in this together,'

    'We're not in _anything together, Potter,' said Malfoy callously. 'These grades don't even count, just how well we take in the subjects we learn. And just because you keep fouling up and getting the wrong information, doesn't mean that I am too,'_

    Harry badly wanted to hex the blonde boy, and Malfoy seemed to be thinking along those lines too, as they both gripped their wands tightly. Fortunately, Snape intervened. 'Take your vials and dip them in your potions,' he addressed the class. 'Then clear up and submit them to me. Potter, Malfoy, clear up your potion, and don't bother handing it up,'

    When he was about to leave, Snape called out to Harry. 'One more thing, Potter,' he said. 'I want you to write an essay about this potion, with the correct apparatus, ingredients, and method listed. I want you to write what it would look like when done correctly, it's uses, advantages and disadvantages, and what it would do when it is created the way you created it today. To be handed it by tomorrow,'

    'What?' asked Harry, outraged. 'But, Professor—'

    '_Tomorrow_, Potter,' said Snape firmly. 'Now get to class, unless you wish to lose Gryffindor more points. You've already lost so much in this month alone,'

    Face burning with embarrassment, Harry met Ron, Hermione and Seamus outside and told them of what Snape had given him as homework.

    'Git,' said Ron vehemently. 'He should be fired, he should. How did he ever hold down this job, anyway?'

    'Dumbledore,' said Harry gloomily. He still couldn't understand why Dumbledore was so calm about Voldemort's new plan. Did Dumbledore know something that he was keeping away from Harry? Harry briefly wondered if the Order was in on whatever Dumbledore was up to.

*

    It was the day of the first Quidditch match. In the changing room, Seamus, Lorne Horatio, and Annette Coral seemed close to tears, as they were extremely worried about their first match ever. Ron looked rather ill himself. Harry, Katie and Ambrosia were the only ones remotely relaxed, but inside, Harry was just a jumble of nerves. This was his first match as Quidditch captain, and he was beginning to appreciate all the training that Wood had given the team when he had been captain. He wondered if he should have trained everyone a bit more.

    'Alright,' he said to them. 'This is it. And no matter what happens, we'll still be in the running. So just keep your heads, and do the best you can.' The players nodded, and Harry turned to Ron. 'Remember, Ron,' he said, 'don't listen to anything the Slytherins say,'

    'I won't, Harry,' said Ron with a weak smile.

    The doors opened, and they made their way into the Quidditch pitch. The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were all cheering and whistling for them, and the Slytherins were booing. 'And here come the Gryffindor team!' said the commentator, a boy named Cory Evans. 'Fabulous lineup this year. Finnigan, Horatio, Coral, Spinnet, Weasley, Bell and Potter, who is the captain this year. And here come the Slytherins. Baddock, Dierans, Race, Parkinson, Bulstrode, Nott, and Malfoy, who leads the Slytherin team this year,'

    Harry met with Draco, who narrowed his eyes. They shook hands—or rather gripped each others hands for a fraction of a second before quickly letting go. Most of the Slytherins were new, but Harry could see a couple who were on the team previous years. Baddock and Race were both seventh-years and had been on the team ever since their second, he knew. Unlike Flint, the Slytherins previous captain, Malfoy had allowed girls to play on the team.

    'Mount your brooms,' directed Madam Hooch. 'Now, listen. This is to be a fair game, do you hear? As you are both new captains, I expect there to be a new way in playing. No more dirty games, like last time,'

    They didn't answer, but she seemed to take their silence as consent. The players climbed on their brooms. Madam Hooch opened the kit holding the balls, and released them into the air, and everyone was off.

    Race got the Quaffle first and hurtled to the hoops. When he was close enough, he heaved it. 'Dive, Ron! Dive!' Harry yelled. Ron dived, and caught the Quaffle. There was a cheer from the three houses, and Harry sighed in relief.

    'Quick thinking by Weasley, the Gryffindor Keeper, who managed to stop the Quaffle in time,' said Evans. Annette zoomed around the air, as Ron tossed the Quaffle to Katie. Harry saw a Bludger heading straight for Ambrosia, but she saw it too, and struck it with her bat, sending it flying.

    'Quaffle to Bell,' said Evans, watching closely, 'who just passed it to Coral. Back to Bell, back to Coral again. They are just tossing it back and forth, people—'

    Harry, who was watching all of this, was ready to tear his hair out. Just as he opened his mouth to yell at them to score, Annette threw it in the hoop.

    'Ten points to Gryffindor!' Evans whooped.

    The crowds cheered, and Harry saw Malfoy frowning.

    Race had the Quaffle now, and sped to Ron. Harry watched as Ron's eyes widened, and Race chucked the Quaffle straight for the hoops. Ron flew to the right, where the Quaffle was, and captured it by the tips of his fingers. There were groans on the Slytherin side, but the other three houses were cheering wildly. Ron threw it to Ambrosia, who headed straight for the Slytherin hoops, which Millicent Bulstrode was guarding. Annette was about to throw the ball, when a Bludger hit her arm, causing her to drop the Quaffle, caught by Pansy.

    Evans was commentating furiously, and the crowd was groaning, and Harry waited for Madam Hooch to sound the whistle, but it didn't come. A second later, he realized that it was allowed for Beaters to hit Bludgers at the Chasers. 

    Pansy was flying for Ron now, but Lorne, who seemed to have been waiting for his chance to hit a Slytherin from close range, smacked a Bludger at Pansy. It worked. The Quaffle fell out of her hand, and was falling down to the grass below. For a second, Harry thought that it would hit the grass, but Seamus streaked down and seized it just in time. He flew upwards and threw it with all his might. However, just s it was about to go through the hoops, Dierans hit a Bludger at it, deterring it from Millicent.

    Madam Hooch blew her whistle. 'You do not hit a Bludger at the Quaffle!' she barked.

    'Sorry, missed,' called Dierans, letting out a nasty laugh. Harry saw him high-fiving Malfoy.

    His eyes skimmed the sky for the Snitch, but he couldn't locate it.

    'Twenty-zero, Gryffindor,' said Evans. 'Finnigan is taking another shot, and Bulstrode is reaching for it, and … and—yes, I don't believe it! Gryffindor scores, thirty-zero!'

    'Come on, come on,' muttered Harry. Where was the Snitch?

    'Quaffle to Baddock,' said Evans. 'He's taking aim, and he shoots and—yes! Ron Weasley blocks it!'

    'Go, Ron!' shouted Harry, feeling a surge of satisfaction. Ron had obviously grown out of his awkwardness from last year, and Harry gave Malfoy a poisonous glare. Let him try to make up another rendition of 'Weasley is our King' now.

    Seamus had the Quaffle now. He flew for Millicent, ducking as Nott hit a Bludger in his direction. Bulstrode was waiting for him, and Seamus paused. Then, without warning, he turned and passed it to Katie, who was flying a on his right. Millicent hadn't been expecting this, and flew to Katie. Katie then threw it back to Seamus, who threw it in the left hoop, which Millicent had left unattended.

    'Forty-zero!' howled Evans, jumping to his feet. It was then that Harry spotted the Snitch. It was behind the goalpost Ron was guarding. 'Quaffle in possession of Slytherin—oh, back luck, Parkinson. Quaffle with Spinnet—she shoots—she scores! Fifty-zero, Gryffindor!'

    Now, Harry told himself. He zoomed straight for the goalposts. No one had noticed yet …

    'Where's Potter going?' asked Evans, and Harry gritted his teeth. Thanks to Evans, his element of surprise was gone. Malfoy had sat up straighter, and was following Harry. 'He's found the Snitch!'

    'Faster,' said Harry to his Firebolt. Ron's eyes widened, and flew out of the way. Harry had reached the hoops … the Snitch had realized it was about to get caught, and made an attempt to get away, but it was too slow. His hand was closing around it … and he gripped it by the wing.

    'Potter's got the Snitch!' cried Evans, jumping to his feet. 'Gryffindor wins two hundred to zero!'

    Everyone was cheering Harry's name, and he swore that he could hear Luna Lovegood's Gryffindor hat roaring in the stands. In a second, he had been enveloped by Ron. 

    That night, there was a huge celebration at Gryffindor Tower. It was the second in two weeks, but Professor McGonagall couldn't really object. Never before had Gryffindor beaten Slytherin by such high points, and the fact that it was the first game of the season made it all the more special. Even Nearly-Headless Nick had stopped by to congratulate them, and Harry had been forced to shake his hand, which gave him a very unpleasant feeling indeed.

    Finally, Professor McGonagall, dressed in a bathrobe, had come in, telling them that even though it was Saturday the next day, they had to get to sleep. The Gryffindors obliged willingly, and Harry had been congratulated as he, Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville went up.

    Though Neville had lost out to Evans, who was a Hufflepuff seventh-year, he hadn't been embarrassed, and he complimented Harry on his amazing win.

    As he put his head on the pillow, he couldn't help but think that it had been an almost perfect day. His eyes started to droop when he heard someone hissing his name. He opened his eyes to see Seamus standing over him, a big grin on his face. 'You're gorgeous,' he told Harry.

    'I could say the same for you,' said Harry. 'Except that you're drop-dead gorgeous,'

    Seamus crept into his bed, and noticed Harry's worried look. 'Don't worry, they're all out like torches,' he said. 'Did you know that I …' he kissed Harry on the lips, '… have been waiting all day to do this?'

    'Tell me what you want to do to me,' whispered Harry, his hand reaching for Seamus's boxers.

    'I want to pin you down,' murmured Seamus, kissing his neck, 'and I want to take you, and hear you moan.'

    Harry had pulled out Seamus's long cock and was stroking it as his boyfriend told him these words. 'No,' he said.

    'No?' Seamus was surprised.

    'No,' said Harry. 'Not pin me down. Tie me up,'

    'Tie you up?' Seamus had gone past surprised and was almost past shocked. 'Harry, I had no idea you were into that,'

    'Neither did I,' admitted Harry. 'But don't tell me that it doesn't make you hot, because your cock is saying it for you,'

    Seamus's dick had gotten harder by Harry's kinky words, and then Harry attacked it. His mouth flew on Seamus's cock, and he took his from the tip to the head. Seamus let out a loud groan, and thrust into Harry's mouth.

    'Oi!' they heard Ron hiss. Harry froze with fear, and he felt Seamus's cock go limp in fright. They turned around to see him glaring in the darkness. 'Finnigan, get to bed! Harry, sleep! You're lucky it was only me and not these two,' he gestured to the slumbering bodies of Dean and Neville.

    Harry wanted to argue, and Seamus looked like he did too, but they nodded. Seamus went back into his own bed, leaving Harry to lie there alone, with only thoughts of Voldemort's latest plan to keep him company.

A/N: Sorry people, but that's the way the story goes. But you had sex earlier in the chapter … although Harry and Seamus have yet to fuck. And I also wanted to say that I appreciate all your reviews, and I know you have questions, but I'm tying to write as JK Rowling would (except for the explicit sex parts of course), and she obviously can't answer questions in her book. But I will try to email you all the answers to your questions, if I can. You can drop me a line at watiwant2000@yahoo.com. Thanks.


	7. Chapter Seven

_The Trial Before the Wizengamot_

    Sunday morning, Professor McGonagall found Harry in the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione. 'Professor Dumbledore wants to see you,' she informed them crisply. They stared at her in surprise.

    'Er … why, Professor?' asked Harry.

    'I believe that it has something to do with the Wizengamot, Potter,' said Professor McGonagall. 'I suggest that you go now. Professor Dumbledore told me to send you as quickly as possible,'

    Harry nodded, and got up, but McGonagall called him back. 'Oh, and Potter, the password has been changed,' she informed. 'It is now Doppelganger Candy,' she looked like she was trying to hide a smile, and walked away. Harry, puzzled, turned to Ron and Hermione.

    'What's Doppelganger Candy?'

    'Oh, it's ruddy brilliant,' said Ron brightly. 'Fred and George brought it the other day. You eat the sweet and you can produce a twin. It doesn't talk of course. Fred fooled the first years into thinking that George was his doppelganger,'

    Harry grinned, and left the Great Hall. When he reached the stone gargoyle to Dumbledore's office, he told it the password, and went through when it jumped out of the way. He saw Dumbledore chuckling at a mirror image of himself, and realized that the headmaster had just eaten a Doppelganger Candy. 'Ingenious,' he said to Harry. He snapped his fingers, and the Doppelganger vanished.

    'Professor McGonagall said you wanted to see me, Professor?' said Harry.

    'Yes, Harry, I did,' said Dumbledore, turning serious. 'Please sit down,'

    Harry sat down.

    'I think you know,' said Dumbledore, 'of the trouble Cornelius Fudge has been having with the Wizangamot?'

    'Yes,' said Harry, who still didn't understand where this was going. 'The International Confederation of Wizards are angry at him for not telling the truth about Voldemort,'

    'Precisely,' said Dumbledore. 'And I am one of the members of Wizengamot, and I am a part of his trial. The thing is, Harry,' he fixed the boy with an intent stare, 'I cannot vouch for what happened at that cemetery at the end of your fourth year. Nor can I fully explain the events of the Department of Mysteries last year. I need you to appear, maybe along with Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, and tell the court what happened,'

    Harry felt his throat dry up. 'You—you want me to tell them about Voldemort?' he asked tentatively.

    'Yes,' said Dumbledore. 'It is crucial that you do this. You could very well be the one to unseat Fudge, and that is our goal,'

    'But why?' asked Harry. 'Fudge is on our side, isn't he?'

    Dumbledore sighed. 'I'm afraid that I have … misgivings about Fudge's governing capabilities,'

    Harry frowned. 'What kind of misgivings?'

    'Harry, I shall tell you everything in due time,' said Dumbledore. 'But now I need you to promise me that you will do this,'

    Harry realized that he would have to relieve the two worst years of his life if he went through with this. But how could he refuse? He nodded in response, not trusting himself to speak.

    'Very well,' nodded Dumbledore. There was a sharp rap on the door, and Snape walked in, carrying a vial.

    'I have it Dumbledore,' he said. 

    'Ah, thank you, Severus,' said Dumbledore. 'Set it down here. Arabella is ready?'

    'She has been preparing,' said Snape. He didn't look at Harry, but Dumbledore turned to him.

    'I wonder, Harry, if Mrs. Figg could borrow your father's cloak?' asked Dumbledore.

    'Er, yes,' said Harry, caught off-guard. 'Why?'

    Dumbledore and Snape shared a look, and Dumbledore nodded. 'The Wizengamot is bound to give you Veritaserum, and we can't allow that to happen. Professor Snape here has created a fake,'

    'Very dilute Veritaserum,' said Snape. 'The Ministry is bound to check if it's real, and when they do, they will know that there are traces of magic in it, and won't suspect that it is a fake. The water cancels out the serum though, so you shall have full control over your words,'

    'Why don't you jus use water?' asked Harry.

    'As I said, Potter, the Ministry is bound to check for magic. If I use mere water, they will know that there are no traces of magic, and call it a fake. Their spell won't tell them that the serum is dilute, nor that there are water molecules present. It is the perfect bluff,'

    'The Ministry has its own supply of Veritaserum, and it has to be replaced,' said Dumbledore. 'Arabella must use your Invisibility Cloak to enter the courtroom before the trial and replace it with Professor Snape's fake,'

    'But why doesn't Mr. Weasley do it?' asked Harry. 'Or Tonks or Shacklebolt?'

    'They are representatives of the Ministry, and are not allowed in,' Snape said for Dumbledore. 'I can't do it, and neither can Professor McGonagall, as we have to stay in Hogwarts. Lupin is currently on a mission, Hagrid is too big to fit under your cloak, and Sturgis Podmore is currently suspected as a Death Eater,'

    This caught Harry by surprise. When was Sturgis Podmore suspected as one of Voldemort's servant?

    'During the summer,' said Dumbledore, as though reading his mind, 'Sturgis was suspected as being one of Voldemort's Death Eaters. Everyone thought that he escaped along with the Death Eaters from Azkaban which you help put. He's been hiding here ever since. But Harry, you must listen to what I tell you. _You must not tell them about Sirius or the Order,'_

    Dumbledore had put such a strong emphasis on it, that Harry was stunned. 'Why?'

    'There are complications,' said Snape coldly. 'Just keep your mouth shut about the Order and Black,'

    Harry wanted to retort, but nothing came to mind at the moment, so he settled for glaring.

    'You may return to your friends, Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'Please tell Mr. Weasley and Ms Granger that their assistance may be required,'

    'Right, Professor,' nodded Harry. 'When's the hearing?'

    Dumbledore looked tired. 'Tuesday morning,'

*

    'And he's telling you the plan _today?' asked Ron disbelievingly._

    'Yes,' said Harry. 'I don't know why he kept it so late,'

    'Maybe he didn't want to throw off your game for Quidditch,' reasoned Hermione.

    'No Quidditch match is more important than this,' said Harry. All around them, the school—except the Slytherins—were celebrating Gryffindor's amazing win over Slytherin.

    When they got back to the Gryffindor Common Room, they saw Seamus flicking his wand. '_Marmor__!' he was chanting, as he flicked it. The quill burst into flames, and Seamus jumped backward to get out of the reach of the flames. Fortunately, a seventh-year was close by, and doused it with a spell._

    Seamus blushed when he noticed that Harry was watching him, an amused smile on his face.

    'I didn't know you were interested in schoolwork,' said Harry.

    'Well, it was either that, or watching the house-elves making me biscuits,' Seamus shrugged his shoulders.

    Harry laughed, but Hermione narrowed her eyes.

*

    Harry went to sleep that night with disturbed dreams. Sirius was there, and he was talking to Harry, but he called him James.

    'There it is,' said Sirius, his eyes lighting up. Harry wanted to know what, but couldn't open his mouth to ask. There was a moment of silence, and Sirius said, 'Don't be silly, Moony. Of course it's a good idea. I have to remember to thank Filch for sending me to wait for him in his office last week, or I would have never seen it,'

    'Are you sure you know what you're doing, Padfoot,' Harry heard himself ask. 'You researched it?'

    Sirius let out an impatient sigh. '_Yes, Mother, I did,'_

    Sirius took a step to something, but Harry couldn't see what it was. He couldn't see anything apart from Sirius. Everything else was pitch black. Only when Sirius held it in his hand, which was covered with dragonhide gloves, did Harry see that it was a big white ball, similar to the crystal balls they used in Divination, except bigger.

    'It's not a moon, Remus,' said Harry, though he didn't intend to. It was as though he had no control whatsoever over his mouth or any other parts of his body.

    'When we throw it at Snivellus, he won't be able to resist picking it up,' said Sirius. 'What's that, Wormtail?' There was a pause. Then Sirius hissed, 'Filch! Hide!'

    Harry felt his legs move, ducking underneath and object which he realized was Filch's desk. There was a pause, and then Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak and draped it around himself and Sirius, who was beside him.

    After a while, Harry got up, and saw Sirius do the same, and they left Filch's office accompanied, no doubt, by Lupin and Wormtail. Harry followed Sirius, who was in the lead it seemed, back to their dorm. Something about the path from Filch's office to the bedroom seemed extremely familiar.

    The scene disappeared, and Harry was running, Sirius by his side. Sirius was holding the Orb in his right hand, which donned dragonhide gloves, and then he turned back and said, 'Hey, Snape! Catch!' and threw the Orb behind him.

    They burst into laughter, probably at something Snape said. 'Oh, this is just priceless,' Harry heard himself say.

   'And Snivellus can't take it off himself because he doesn't have gloves,' Sirius had tears in his eyes from laughing so much.

    There was silence, and Sirius said, 'Probably Malfoy will, don't worry Wormtail. One of the teachers will get it off, if not he Slytherins. Probably Dumbledore,'

    Then Sirius disappeared, and Harry was surrounded in darkness.

    He sat upright in bed, gasping. Sirius. He knew he was slipping in and out of time, as he had last time. Dumbledore had already told him that this would happen, but that didn't make it easier to handle.

    He groaned and lay back in bed, but he couldn't go to sleep. So once again, Harry found himself amongst the early risers. Lorena was there in the Ravenclaw table, and she nodded at him in acknowledgement, before returning to her bowl of cereal.

    Harry heard a flutter of wings, and Hedwig came down to him, carrying a letter. Harry opened it and saw an unfamiliar scrawl.

_Potter—_

_    He's told you about the hearing. This is your chance to get rid of the filth in the Ministry. I will meet you in a location known only to Dumbledore, and instruct you on what to do, and you will follow. Don't show this anyone._

It was unsigned.

    The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he pocketed the letter. Harry looked up, and saw Lorena, who had a questioning look on her face, as if to ask who the letter was from. Harry shrugged in response, and saw to his surprise that Malfoy was at the Slytherin table again, and he was watching Harry and Lorena with narrowed eyes. At Harry's shrug, Malfoy got up quickly, and exited the Great Hall. Harry wondered where he was going, but didn't care too much.

    After breakfast, he got up, and Lorena did too. 'So, how's it going?' she asked conversationally.

    'Oh, okay,' said Harry. 'Do you know where Malfoy's going?'

    'I don't really care,' said Lorena.

    Harry nodded.

    'Going back to Gryffindor Tower?' asked Lorena.

    'Yeah,' said Harry. He didn't really feel like talking. Lorena seemed to get that vibe, and nodded.

    'Anyway, I have to go,' she said. 'See you,'

    'See you,' said Harry vaguely.

    Classes that day went by in a blur. Harry blocked out most of what the teachers were saying. He thought that he may have gotten a detention at one point, but he didn't know for sure, nor did he know who gave it to him. In the end, he told Ron and Hermione about his dream.

    'See Professor Dumbledore,' they said instantly, so Harry decided to take their advice, and once again, found himself at the stone gargoyle standing before the office.

    'Doppelganger Candy,' said Harry flatly. The gargoyle jumped out of the way, and Harry went in. 

    Dumbledore was frowning at a paper on his table when he went in, but the Headmaster looked up at him and smiled serenely. 'Ah, Harry. What can I do for you?'

    'I—I had a dream,' said Harry. His eyes landed on Fawkes, who yawned, before trailing back to Dumbledore. 'About Sirius,'

    'I see,' said Dumbledore. 'I knew this would happen. As I said previously, you are—'

    'Slipping between time,' interrupted Harry. 'I know. But there's something I wanted to ask you,'

    Dumbledore waited.

    'What's the Orb of Confusion?'

    Dumbledore looked surprised, but quickly composed himself. 'Well, Harry, the Orb of Confusion is a sort of weapon, created by Merlin in the twelfth century. Why?'

    'Sirius had it,' said Harry. 'And the rest of the Marauders. They found it in Filch's office. What's he doing with it?'

    'The Orb of Confusion was passed to the Headmaster of the school in the eighteenth century,' said Dumbledore. 'It was used a while back, and was given to Mr. Filch for safekeeping,' Dumbledore informed Harry. 'Why do you ask, Harry?'

    'Actually, I've been wondering if I could … use it?' he asked tentatively.

    Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. 'Oh?'

    'Yes,' said Harry. 'If Voldemort is planning something, confusion would be a good distraction,'

    Dumbledore paused, considering it. Finally he nodded. 'Very well,' he said. 'If you will just give me a moment.' He took his wand, muttered a spell, and the tip of the wand glittered green. 'Argus Filch!' said Dumbledore to the tip. The wand glowed green, then returned to its normal color, the tip still sparkling green. 'Argus, I want you to do me a favor. Harry Potter is going to go down to your office soon, and I want you to give him the Orb of Confusion,'

    Harry was surprised to hear Filch's voice in the room, as though he were there. 'Yes, Headmaster,' said Filch. The sparkles disappeared from Dumbledore's wand tip, and Dumbledore set it back down on his desk. He smiled contentedly at Harry. 'I think you remember a similar charm at the Visitor's Entrance of the Ministry of Magic, Harry?'

    Harry realized that the spell Dumbledore had just cast did remind him of the enchanted telephone which Harry and Mr. Weasley had encountered on the day of Harry's hearing more than a year ago. Dumbledore allowed him to go, telling him that Filch would be waiting for him. Indeed, Filch was waiting outside his office, holding the Orb in a gloved hand. Apparently, Flitwick had taken pity on the Squib, and removed the swamp that Ron and Seamus had created outside the office. Filch leered at him.

    'Uh-oh,' he said in a mocking tone. 'Looks like you forgot your gloves. Can't hold the Orb without them, you can't,'

    Harry realized that this was true, but at that moment, he heard Fawkes's cry, and the phoenix flew to him, gloves held in its talons. It dropped the gloves into Harry's hands, and Filch watched, dumbstruck, as Harry pulled them on and petted the bird on its head, before it flew away. 'I'm ready for the Orb now,' he smirked.

    Filch gave him a nasty look, but handed him the Orb anyway. As Harry walked away, he heard the caretaker muttering to his cat, Mrs. Norris.

    In Gryffindor Tower, Hermione inspected it interestedly. Ron stared at it with a stupid expression. 'I don't know why you want it,' he said to Harry. 'It's like having a little piece of Trelawney in our room,'

    'Ugh,' said Harry. 'It's a good battle weapon, I'm sure,'

    'Oh, yes,' said Hermione. 'Harry, do you know what you have here? It's a real treasure. One-half of the Orbs Merlin ever made. Imagine the history!'

    'One-half?' asked Harry in surprise.

   'Oh, yes,' said Hermione earnestly. 'But I suppose it will forever be one-half. I read about this. Merlin created the Orb of Confusion, and the Orb of Clarity. Real advantages during battle, but the Orb of Clarity was lost,'

    'How?' asked Ron, interest piqued. Hermione narrowed her eyes.

    'You two just don't listen in History of Magic, do you?' she asked accusingly.

    'Well, it's very hard, as we don't take the class anymore,' said Ron.

    Hermione waved her hand impatiently. 'I mean when you two took the class. The Orb of Clarity played a very important role during the Sorcery Wars in the sixteenth century. That's how the wizards won the first war. Unfortunately, the Orb of Clarity was dangerous to someone who didn't know how to use it. It drove two people insane. But in the end, it told the wizards how to win the war, and the Orb was lost,'

    She checked her watch. 'I have to go,' she said abruptly, and got up.

    After she was gone, Ron turned to Harry. 'Why is it that I don't remember a single thing from that class except for the Goblin Rebellion?' he asked. Seamus came over and took Hermione's place. He was covered in mud.

    'Nice ball,' he said, looking at the Orb. 'Did you sneak that from Divination or what?'

    'No,' Harry shook his head. 'Dumbledore told me to take it from Filch,'

    'Really? Why?' asked Seamus.

    'Oh, it's a good—no! Don't touch it!'

    Too late. Seamus gripped it in his right hand, and his eyes went blank. Surprisingly, he looked like Goyle. Seamus raised his hand, and slapped Ron on the cheek.

    'Ow!' cried Ron.

    'Bitch! Why didn't you tie her hair with the pink bow?' Seamus hissed. Ron looked bewildered.

    'Seamus,' said Harry, 'let go of the Orb,'

    Seamus stared at Harry, then grabbed his cheek and pinched it. 'Let's make biscuits!' he said.

    Harry pulled away, his cheek stinging. 'Get my gloves,' he instructed Ron. 'They're on the table,'

    'Right,' said Ron, rubbing the place where Seamus had slapped him. 'Right. Thanks a lot, Seamus. Now people are going to think I hit myself with a doorknob or something,'

    Seamus tossed his head back and laughed, as though it was the funniest thing he had ever heard of. Ron left to get the gloves, and returned with them a second later. Harry pulled them on, and gently removed the Orb from Seamus's hand. After placing it on the floor beside him, Harry watched as Seamus came out of his trance. Ron was still glaring poisonously at him, his cheek red. 'Wow, what happened to you?' asked Seamus. 

    'I happen to bruise easily from slaps,' said Ron venomously. Seamus looked confused, and shrugged. Ron rolled his eyes.

    'So, what _is that?' asked Seamus, his eyes once again on the Orb beside Harry._

    'The Orb of Confusion,' said Harry. 'A weapon,'

    'A weapon?' Seamus repeated. 'You mean against You-Know-Who?'

    Harry nodded.

    Seamus whistled in appreciation of Harry's audacity. 

    The next morning, Harry was met by Professor McGonagall, who told him that he had been excused from all his classes today for the hearing, and that he was to go up to Professor Dumbledore's office immediately. On the way there, he ran into Professor Snape, whose lip curled, but didn't say anything. Harry guessed that he wasn't too happy about not having Harry to torture.

    Dumbledore was waiting there for him, dressed in blue robes, the exact same color of his twinkling eyes. Mrs. Figg, whom Harry had found out only last year that she was a Squib, was wringing her hands together. She looked very frightened. 'Ah, Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'Ready to go, I hope? Did you bring your cloak?'

    Harry realized only then that he had left his cloak in the trunk in his bedroom. However, thinking quickly, he pulled out his wand. '_Accio__!' he said, and waited. Within seconds, they heard a soft thump on the door. Harry opened it to see the Invisibility Cloak lying on the floor. He heard a strange, loud sound, as if someone on four feet were running. The stone gargoyle protecting Dumbledore's chambers came bounding to them. 'Nothing may pass without the password,' it was growling._

    'There, there,' said Dumbledore. 'It means no harm,'

    The gargoyle looked at Dumbledore reproachfully, then galloped away.

    'I never knew that the gargoyle was alive,' said Harry after a moment of silence.

    'Oh, yes,' said Dumbledore. 'It's meant to protect the Headmaster or Headmistress at all costs. Godric Gryffindor was the one to bring it to life, after Salazar Slytherin had tried to attack the school,'

    Harry nodded. They went back in.

    'Well, Arabella, you know what to do?' inquired Dumbledore.

    Mrs. Figg tried to put on a brave front, Harry saw. 'Yes, Dumbledore,' she said. 'I know what to do. Use the cloak to get in, make the exchange, get out,'

    'Yes,' nodded Dumbledore. 'Make sure that no one bumps into you. I shall try to stall the Wizengamot, if necessary,'

    'Right,' said Mrs. Figg.

    'Very well,' Dumbledore turned to Harry. 'Harry, you are ready?'

    Harry felt butterflies flying in his stomach, but he nodded. 'How will we get there?' he asked.

    'Professor Flitwick has been kind enough to make us a Portkey,' said Dumbledore. 'Cloak on, Arabella,'

    Mrs. Figg threw the cloak on herself, and disappeared before Harry's eyes.

    'Everyone hold on to the scroll now,' said Dumbledore, indicating the scroll sitting on his table. He and Harry, and Mrs. Figg too, he supposed, reached out and grabbed it. Almost instantly, Harry felt the familiar rush that only a Portkey could give, and felt something hook onto the back of his navel. Everything was blurring, and spinning, and then it stopped. Harry opened his eyes to see the fountain in front of him. The larger-than-life golden statues were back in place, and spouting water.

    Dumbledore went in to the left, and Harry followed. 'The Wizengamot are residing in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Harry,' he said, reaching the elevator. The doors opened, and they stepped in. They were the only ones there, and Dumbledore pressed the buttons 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Harry looked at him with an eyebrow raised, but Dumbledore just smiled.

    'Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services,' said the cool female voice Harry had heard the last time he was in the Ministry of Magic. The doors opened, and Dumbledore stepped out, and Harry did too,'

    'It would look too suspicious if we pressed Level Two, and then Level Nine,' said Dumbledore softly. 'This way, we can fool the Ministry officials into thinking that there is a child loose who likes pushing all the elevator buttons,'

    Harry had to admit that that made sense. Dumbledore stopped at a door that was marked: _Wizengamot__ Administration Services, and went in. Inside, there were two doors. The one on the left had a plaque reading: __Wizengamot__ Chambers. The one on the right read: __Preparation Room. Dumbledore ignored the door on the right, and walked straight to the left._

    Inside, Harry saw there were many wizards talking amongst themselves quietly. Harry saw Amelia Bones, who had served as judge during his hearing last year, sitting on a couch, dressed in black robes. The others were dressed in brightly colored robes, and they looked up when Harry and Dumbledore came in.

    'Oh, Dumbledore,' said a white-haired witch, smiling pleasantly, 'hello. And this must be Harry Potter. How do you do?'

    'Er, hi,' said Harry awkwardly.

    'I'm Laurie Bugoda,' she said, extending her wrinkled hand. Harry shook it. 'I was present at your hearing during the summer before your fifth year. I'm sorry we had to meet at such a grim occasion,'

    A man that looked vaguely familiar came beside Laurie Bugoda. 'Dedalus Diggle,' he introduced himself. 'We've met before, Mr. Potter,'

    'Yeah, I remember,' said Harry, who had met Diggle for the first time on the street beside a Muggle supermarket, and then once again during his first time in the Leaky Cauldron before his first year.

    Before anyone else could come up to him, however, the door opened. Everyone looked up to see a woman with glasses. 'The Courtroom is ready,' she announced. 'The Wizengamot have to report to the Preparation Room to get dressed and have their wands checked. Mr. Potter has to come and wait in the Atrium for access into the courtroom, and Judge Bones has to await in her chambers,'

    Everyone stood up. Only Madam Bones and Harry left with the woman, while everyone else went into the Preparation Room. As Harry was led to the Atrium, outside Courtroom Ten, Madam Bones was allowed to go in, as her chambers were inside.

    It seemed like an eternity in which Harry spent wondering if Mrs. Figg managed to change the Veritaserum in time before he was allowed to go in. He was the only one there, and the woman told him to sit down somewhere in the benches provided. He saw a vial of clear liquid, and wondered if it was the real Veritaserum or the decoy.

    'You'll be the first to come up, I'm sure,' the woman said. The doors opened, and Harry saw the witches and wizards of the Wizengamot trot in. They had changed their outfits and were now dressed in the purple robes with the large W in the middle. They took their seats, and slowly, more people came in. Harry saw a man holding a camera with a flashbulb, which he knew from experience would produce purple smoke when used. There were people who looked grim, some shaking their heads, and some talking excitedly amongst themselves.

    Harry found himself beside two women who were chattering excitedly, and a man who looked bored and sleepy. The doors opened once more to reveal Percy, who looked very pompous. Harry realized that Percy thought that with Fudge out of the way, he'd probably be the next Minister. Behind him, was an old man that Harry only knew from sight. He let out a small gasp. 'The Reedy Man,' he whispered softly, so that no one else would hear. The Reedy Man was a Ministry official who had come to Hogwarts during Harry's third year to witness Macnair kill Buckbeak the Hippogriff.

    Percy took a seat right in front, but The Reedy Man went to the defendant's table and sat down there instead. Dumbledore was watching everything from the Wizengamot table. Everyone was there except the most important person. Just as he thought this however, the doors flew open one more time to reveal Fudge. He stomped to the front, ignoring everyone, and glaring at Dumbledore. 'Let's get on with it then,' he barked.

    'All rise for the honorable judge, Judge Bones,' said a beefy wizard in the back, whom Harry supposed was the bailiff. Everyone got to their feet.

    The door in the back opened, and Madam Bones stepped in, looking very serious indeed. She took her place, and sat down, and so did everybody else. Fudge remained standing. Madam Bones cleared her throat. 'Case,' she said.

    'The public versus Minister for Magic, Cornelius Oswald Fudge,' read the bailiff.

    'Cornelius Fudge has been accused of hiding information regarding the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is that correct,' asked Madam Bones.

    'Yes, Your Honor,' said the bailiff.

    'Counsel, please rise,' Madam Bones instructed, and Harry momentarily wondered why he hadn't received a lawyer for his hearing last year. The Reedy Man rose, and so did Dumbledore. Fudge's eyes widened.

    'Wait a minute!' he spluttered. 'Dumbledore cannot be an attorney!'

    'Actually, Minister,' said Dumbledore pleasantly, 'Clause Nine in the Decree of Wizarding Rule and Regulaion, Paragraph A states when in full trial, the Wizengamot has the power to oversee conduct, and step in when necessary. It also states that the members of the Wizengamot have the power to act as attorneys at law, should there be no other choice, or if the Wizengamot members decide to pose a member as an attorney. This law has been passed circa 1852, when the Wizengamot was first formed,'

    Fudge's lip curled.

    'Proceed,' said Madam Bones. Dumbledore went up. 'For my first witness, I would like to call upon Harry James Potter,'

    Harry stood up and immediately felt lightheaded. After collecting himself, he made his way to the chair which had chains connected to it. He sat down, and eyed the chains reproachfully, but just like last time, it did not attack him.

    'We will require Veritaserum,' Dumbledore turned to Madam Bones, who had the bottle of Veritaserum on her desk. She passed it to the bailiff, who passed it on to Dumbledore. 'Wait,' said Madam Bones, and for a heart-stopping moment, Harry thought that she had figured out that it was fake.

    'We have to test it,' she continued.

    'Of course,' said Dumbledore, who handed it back to her. She took it, and pulled out her wand. She flicked it, and it momentarily turned gold, before turning back to its original clear color.

    'It passes the test,' she announced, giving it back to the Headmaster. 'You may administer it,'

    Dumbledore nodded, and uncorked the vial. He passed it on to Harry, who looked at it, then swallowed it in one gulp. He didn't feel any different, but wasn't sure that he was supposed to. 'Now, let us proceed,' said Dumbledore. He looked straight into Harry's eyes. 'Are you Harry James Potter?' he asked.

    'Yes,' said Harry.

    'Where do you live? Please exclude the house address. Merely tell us the street,'

    'I live with my aunt, uncle and cousin in Privet Drive,' said Harry tonelessly.

    'And you are a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?'

    'Yes,'

    'You claim to have seen Lord Voldemort rise. Is this true?'

    'Yes,'

    'Please tell us the exact events,'

    Harry took a deep breath. 'It was during the final term of my fourth year. I was taking part in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, even though I was underage—'

    'And _why_ were you in the tournament?' interrupted Dumbledore.

    'The Goblet of Fire was use,' said Harry. 'A strong Confundus Charm had been used on it. The Goblet knew that there were only three schools registered, but after the charm was used, it was made to believe that there were four. I was registered as the only student in the fourth school, so the Goblet had no choice but to give my name,'

    'And who hexed the Goblet of Fire?' asked Dumbledore.

    'The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,' said Harry.

    There was a gasp from everyone except Harry, Dumbledore and Fudge.

    'You mean to tell us that Alastor Moody is the one who entered you in the tournament that resulted in the rise of the Dark Lord?' asked Madam Bones sharply.

    'No!' Harry exclaimed. 'It was Barty Crouch Jr. Mr. Crouch's son. He had attacked Moody during the summer and kept him locked up in his enchanted trunk. He cut out Moody's hair throughout the year to create the Polyjuice Potion. He was in league with Voldemort—' there was another gasp, '—the whole time,'

    'Impossible,' said Madam Bones immediately. 'Bartemious Crouch Jr. is dead. He was buried outside Azkaban by the Dementors themselves,'

    'I would love very much to ask Harry that question, Madam Bones,' said Dumbledore, bowing slightly, 'but I think it would help my case even more if I ask the Minister, who will be my next witness. He was told the truth immediately after the tournament,'

    Madam Bones considered a moment. 'I will allow this,' she conceded. 'Continue,'

    'What happened during the third match, Harry?' asked Dumbledore.

    Harry took a deep breath. 'I was in the maze, and Moody was going around watching everything. He eliminated some obstacles so that it would be easier on me. He Stunned Fleur Delacour and put Viktor Krum under the Imperius Curse in attempt to get rid of him and Cedric Diggory. But I found them, and we Stunned Krum. Cedric and I then left to continue the maze. We fought the giant spider, and got to the trophy at the same time. We—we grabbed it together and …' he paused. This was still hard for him. However, he saw Dumbledore shake his head, trying to be indiscreet, and saw the urgency in his blue eyes.

    'We grabbed it together, and were teleported to a graveyard,' said Harry quickly. 'Moody had taken it to the centre of the maze that evening and transformed it into a Portkey. There was a Death Eater there, and he killed Cedric,' he rushed on, hoping that if he said it quickly, he wouldn't show emotion. 'He killed Cedric, and tied me to a gravestone. He took out this giant cauldron and he took a bone from the grave I was tied to. It was the grave of Voldemort's father,'

    By this time, everyone was so entranced by the story, they forgot to gasp. Harry plunged on. 'He threw it into the cauldron, and said 'Bone of the father, unknowingly given,' then he cut his hand off, and said 'Flesh of the servant, willingly given' and finally, he pierced me with a dagger, and said 'Blood of the enemy, forcefully taken', and he dropped it into the cauldron,'

    'What happened then?' asked Dumbledore.

    'Voldemort rose,' said Harry softly. 'He rose, and he was robed, and he summoned his Death Eaters to him,'

    'And who was this Death Eater who helped Lord Voldemort rise to power?' asked Dumbledore. Harry glanced at him, trying to mask his surprise. Dumbledore had told him not to mention Sirius or the Order, and Harry had assumed that that meant that Wormtail was out too.

    'Wor—Peter Pettigrew,' said Harry.

    All hell erupted. The reporters swarmed up to Harry, taking his picture, asking for quotes and trying to agree to a date for an exclusive interview. The Wizengamot members began talking amongst themselves in loud tones, and one of the witches whom Harry had sat next to had fainted, while her friend was trying to revive her. Percy looked taken aback, and Fudge looked rather ill. Finally, Madam Bones took her wand-tip to her mouth and boomed, 'Silence! Silence, everyone!'

     No one paid attention, and she raised her wand, and loud explosion was heard. Harry half-expected the Knight Bus, a violently-painted purple bus for witches and wizards, to appear, but it didn't. Nevertheless, it had achieved its goal. Everyone fell silent. 'Now,' said Madam Bones, 'I want everyone to get back to their respective positions. Anyone found making noise will be thrown out. I shouldn't have to say this again.' After everyone shuffled back to their seats, she turned to Dumbledore. 'Continue with the questioning, Dumbledore,' she ordered.

     'Harry, I want you to tell this courtroom what happened that night in the Shrieking Shack after your exams in your third year,' commanded Dumbledore.

    Harry nodded. 'Ron, Hermione and I had gone down to Hagrid's hut because he told us that the Hippogriff was going to be killed,' he said. 'He was crying, and we made him some tea, and Hermione found the rat belonging to Ron. Its name was Scabbers. We left soon after, and Scabbers was trying to get away from Ron. Then, Hermione's cat, Crookshanks appeared,'

    Harry didn't know if he should tell the court about Sirius being an Animagus, but he saw Dumbledore give a tiny nod, so he continued. 'Crookshanks was being followed by a big dog, which I had previously thought was a Grim. It pushed Ron to the ground, and dragged him inside the Whomping Willow, which Crookshanks had stilled,'

    Dumbledore turned to the court. 'The Whomping Willow was built to protect the students from a fellow schoolmate,' he said. 'It led to the Shrieking Shack, and can only be frozen when a knot at the bottom is touched.' He turned back to Harry, who continued the story.

    'Hermione and I followed them, and we found out that the dog was actually Sirius Black in Animagus form. He said that there was going to be a murder tonight and I thought he meant me, but he actually meant Scabbers. Then Professor Lupin came in and told us the story; he was a werewolf, and Sirius, Pettigrew and my father had learned how to turn into Animagi so that he would have friends by his side. They became unregistered Animagi and had adventures. When my parents got married, they placed Sirius as Secret-Keeper to protect themselves from Voldemort. Sirius had another idea.

    'Voldemort knew that Sirius and my father were best friends, and Sirius thought that Voldemort would be sure to go after him. He decided that it would be the perfect bluff if he went into hiding, drawing Voldemort to him, while having Pettigrew as the Secret-Keeper. Voldemort would never suspect that they would use him as the Secret-Keeper. So they made the switch. But Pettigrew was a Death Eater. He betrayed my parents to Voldemort in barely a week. After Voldemort's downfall, Pettigrew ran for it, but Sirius, who had discovered the betrayal, chased him. They finally got to the Muggle street, and Pettigrew cut his index finger off, all the while screaming about how Sirius betrayed my parents. Then he blew up the street.'

    'Black?' asked Madam Bones in a hushed tone.

    'No. Pettigrew,' said Harry. 'Sirius got arrested, and sent to Azkaban. He wasn't guilty and that wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't steal it away from him. When he saw a picture of my friend, Ron, in the _Daily Prophet_, he saw Pettigrew in disguise, and he escaped to track him down and kill him. Lupin and Sirius then forced Wormtail to turn back into human form. They wanted to kill him, but I refused. I didn't want them to kill someone just for filth like him. We were going to hand him over to the Dementors, but then Snape got in the way. He tried to tie up Sirius and Lupin and send them to the Dementors, but Ron, Hermione and I knocked him out.

    'We went out, but it was a full moon, and Lupin had forgotten to take his Wolfsbane Potion. He transformed, and Pettigrew escaped. Sirius fought him, but Lupin ran off, and we met the Dementors. They were too strong, but I managed to get them to back off with a Patronus. However, I fainted, and Snape took us back to the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore then told us that the Dementors had been ordered to give the Dementors the Kiss. The next day, however, we found that Sirius had escaped,'

    'I see,' said Madam Bones. 'That's right, you _do_ have a talent for the Patronus Charm, don't you? What happened to Pettigrew?'

    'He set off to find Voldemort,' said Harry. 'He took Bertha Jorkins, who had seen him in human form, to Voldemort. The Dark Lord got her to talk about what was happening in Hogwarts, and that was how he found out about the Quidditch World Cup and the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He found out that Crouch Jr. was still alive and got him to pose as Moody. In the end, he was resurrected and we battled. I managed to escape using the Portkey, carrying Diggory's body,'

    'And what happened during your fifth year?' asked Dumbledore.

    Harry took another deep breath. 'Nobody believed what happened, so Voldemort and the Death Eaters had the element of surprise on their side. They were going after something in the Department of Mysteries, but I didn't know what. It turned out to be a prophecy about me and him. Voldemort had heard only part of the prophecy last time, and that had led to his downfall. Now, he was trying to find out the full contents of the prophecy, thinking that it would tell him exactly how to get rid of me,'

    'Hang on,' said Madam Bones. 'There's something I don't understand. Last year, You-Know-Who took your blood for his potion. What does this mean?'

    'It means, Amelia, that Harry no longer bears the power within his blood to burn Voldemort,' said Dumbledore. 'The Ministry, of course, remembers the events I told them five years ago at the end of Harry's first year? The love his mother gave him ran in his blood, and gave him the power to burn Professor Quirrel with his touch. Voldemort shares that same power now,'

    There was an almighty gasp. 'Why, this is terrible!' exclaimed Madam Bones, and Harry suddenly remembered something very strange. Dumbledore had appeared triumphant when Harry had told him about this.

    'Professor,' he said tentatively.

    'Yes, Harry?' asked Dumbledore, turning to face him.

    'When I told you about this at the end of my fourth year, I noticed that for a moment you seemed … _happy about it,' said Harry._

    Silence. 

    'Is this true, Dumbledore?' asked Madam Bones finally.

    'Yes, Amelia, it is,' said Dumbledore, smiling. 'I'm glad that it was brought up. Harry, you know of Voldemort's ability to look at the big picture that sometimes he forgets to go over the details, don't you?'

    'Er, yeah,' said Harry, not sure what this had to do with anything.

    'Well, the blood that runs in your veins, which allows you to burn your adversaries, now runs in Voldemort's veins as well. True, you cannot burn him with your touch, but this also means that _he can't touch his supporters without killing them_,'

    It suddenly dawned on Harry that this was true. He had given up a great power, only to have it multiplied thanks to Voldemort. No wonder Dumbledore had looked triumphant, if only for a moment. 'No further questions, Your Honor,' said Dumbledore. He walked back to his seat, but Harry didn't know if he was allowed to.

    'Counsel, you may cross-examine the witness now,' said Madam Bones. The Reedy Man was staring dumbstruck, not moving. 'Counsel,' Madam Bones said again, 'you may cross-examine your witness now,'

    Fudge nudged The Reedy Man. 'Go,' he ordered. 'Ask him your questions,'

    The Reedy Man finally moved. 'He already eliminated all my questions, Fudge,' he hissed. Fudge's eyes widened.

    'What?' he yelped. 'You cannot be serious!'

    'Oh, but I am,' said The Reedy Man. 'It's not looking good for you, Minister,'

    Fudge stood up. 'I need a new lawyer,' he said.

    Madam Bones narrowed her eyes. 'It's the middle of a trial, Mr. Fudge. You can't fire your lawyer now,'

    'Then I demand that we reschedule,' said Fudge.

    'From my point of view, Minister, this is a very simple case,' said Madam Bones. 'We all know that the Dark Lord has returned, and you have been accused of hiding information. After what Mr. Potter has said—under the influence of Veritaserum, I might add—any doubt of your innocence has been erased from my mind. The reason we are even here today is because you asked for a fair trial. Now, if your lawyer doesn't have anything to ask, he must be convinced too. So either he cross-examine the witness, or this case is closed,'

    Fudge turned angrily to The Reedy Man, who shrugged helplessly. 'I can't think of anything, Minister,' he said. 'Veritaserum has been used to eliminate lies, so it must all be true,'

    Fudge looked ready to explode. 'M—my lawyer is a crackpot!' Fudge yelled, turning to Madam Bones.

    Madam Bones readjusted her glasses. 'First of all, Minister, you will not speak in that tone, especially to me, in my courtroom. Secondly, he's been your lawyer for almost fifteen years, and not once have I heard complaint from you. As a matter of fact, I recall you fired your first lawyer because he wasn't competent enough,'

    Fudge didn't know what to say to this, and he opened and closed his mouth, reminding Harry of a fish, and he tried not to laugh. Madam Bones, on the other hand, seemed to be very irritated by this behavior. 'It seems that the defendant has nothing to say for himself,' she told the court. She slammed her gavel on the desk. 'Guilty as charged! Mr. Fudge, please pack up your things from your office. You will be asked to leave the Ministry by the end of the week, and you have until then to train your successor. Although not too closely, I hope,' she smiled malevolently. 'We wouldn't want a carbon copy of you, now would we? Your successor will be determined by the International Confederation of Wizards and the Wizengamot tomorrow morning. Court adjourned,'

    Everyone filed out, except for Fudge. He stood there, frozen, and as Harry passed him, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the man.

    When Harry got back, everyone was dying to know where he had been. Ron and Hermione rushed up to him. 'Where were you?' asked Ron. 'You missed all your classes, and Snape didn't even mind when you didn't show up for Potions!'

    Only then did Harry realize that he hadn't told anyone that he had been asked to appear in court. He was getting very forgetful these days. He told the entire story to them, and they remained quiet, but Hermione looked very worried. 'Oh, Harry,' she shook her head when he finished, 'I'm afraid you didn't handle that very well,'

    'What do you mean?' Ron asked, nonplussed. 'Fudge is fired, isn't he?'

    'Yes, but Ron, Harry showed too much emotion,' said Hermione in a grave tone. 'Veritaserum is supposed to make you emotionless. I'm very surprised no one called him on it,'

    'Maybe they decided not to,' said Harry optimistically. 'I mean, they want Fudge out of office even more than I do, and if they called me on it, it would have ruined their chances, right?'

    'I hope so, Harry,' said Hermione. 'I really hope so. Otherwise you and Dumbledore could be in a world of trouble,'

    They sat there in silence, each wondering what would happen to Harry if the people present at the hearing suspected that the Veritaserum was a fake. Finally, Ron said, 'So who do you think will get the position of Minister?'

    'I don't know,' said Harry, 'but from what McGonagall said, Percy won't be favored just because he's Junior Assistant,'

    'Good. That might actually be a step down from Fudge,' said Ron in a relieved voice.

    Hermione frowned. 'Ron! He's your brother!'

    Ron ignored her.

    'Maybe it will be The Reedy Man,' said Harry thoughtfully.

    'I doubt it,' said Hermione. 'He couldn't defend Fudge today, so I don't think anyone would vote for him as the new Minister. Maybe it will be Dumbledore,'

    'That would be horrible!' said Ron.

    'Not really,' said Hermione loftily. 'As Headmaster, Dumbledore can protect everyone in Hogwarts. As Minister, he could protect everyone in town from Voldemort. It would be a greater position,'

    'Dumbledore wouldn't just leave us,' said Ron, not sounding as though he quite believed it himself. 'I mean, not with Harry here and everything, would he?'

    Harry shrugged. He suspected that if Dumbledore was offered the position again he would turn it down, just like he did the last time, but he wasn't exactly ready to bet everything he had on it.


	8. Chapter Eight

_Exodus_

The Trial had given Harry a new freedom that had been missing ever since his sixth-year started. Malfoy had stopped taunting him, instead choosing to spend his time with his schoolwork, and Percy seemed to have abandoned the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, muttering something about a campaign. Ron was worried about this, as he didn't think that his brother would make a good Minister. 'You watch,' he had told Harry dismally on the way to their Defense class. 'First thing he'll do is tell the _Prophet_ that You-Know-Who is just a figment of our imagination or something ridiculous like that,'

    October meant more than the Quidditch season, it also meant Halloween, which always meant a trip to Hogsmeade. Seamus found Harry that day in the common room, and sat next to him. 'Hey,' he said softly. 'We have a Hogsmeade trip during Halloween,'

    'Yeah, I know,' said Harry, setting down his quill.

    'I was wondering …' Seamus paused, looking uncertain, '… we haven't had a first date yet. I was wondering if you wanted to … get a drink or something?'

    Harry burst into a grin. 'I'd love to,'

    Seamus looked immensely relieved. 'Great. The Three Broomsticks?'

    'Sure,' Harry smiled. Seamus nodded, got up and left, leaving Harry alone. Harry sighed, wishing that Seamus would stay but he knew that that would be dangerous. If anyone found out or even suspected about his relationship, it would be all over the _Daily Prophet, and Voldemort would have yet another weapon to use against him. Just like he had used Sirius …_

    Harry felt his eyes tearing up, and he blinked them back. Ron and Hermione had gone to monitor the halls, as it was part of their prefect duties. All in all, they had been growing apart by the level of responsibilities they had slowly attained. Ron and Hermione, being sixth-years, were now being carefully watched by McGonagall, as she had to decide if they were good enough to make Head Boy and Head Girl next year. Harry had been loaded with the amount of schoolwork he had, along with being Quidditch Captain and leading the Defense Association as well as Dumbledore's Army. Actually, it was a miracle they were still friends considering how little they saw each other these days.

    He was getting nowhere in his work, so Harry decided to get something to eat. He got up and looked around, hoping that Seamus would want to come with him into the kitchens, but he saw his boyfriend talking with Dean Thomas, a big grin on his face. Harry wondered if Seamus had told Dean about his relationship with Harry, but decided that Dean could be trusted. They were all, after all, roommates.

    He went to the kitchens alone and tickled the pear in the portrait. It giggled, and the portrait swung open. Harry climbed in, and there was a great shout for joy. The house-elves loved serving anyone who came into the kitchen looking for food.

    'Hello, Harry Potter!' said Dobby, who rushed up immediately when he saw Harry. His large green eyes were shining with excitement. 

    'Hello, Dobby,' said Harry. 'Don't think you could fix me up with a few crumpets, could you?'

    'Of course, sir!' said Dobby, bowing low, the rest of the house-elves bowing along with him. 'We is having another guest,'

    'Really?' Harry asked in surprise, for he had not seen anyone else in the room. 'Who?'

    'Potter without the Weasel and Mudblood?' said an all-too familiar voice. 'Excuse me while I go to witness hell freezing over,'

    'Figures that you would know how to get there, Malfoy,' retorted Harry. 'I'm just surprised you decided to acknowledge lower beings such as house-elves to your arrogant eyes,'

    'Shows how much you know,' said Malfoy. 'I always acknowledge the house-elves. I've been coming here ever since my first year with Crabbe and Goyle,'

    Harry narrowed his eyes. 'Better make those crumpets to go, Dobby,' he said.

    'Don't bother,' said Malfoy, getting up. 'I was just leaving,'

    'But Master isn't finished sandwich,' said Dobby.

    'Hmm? Oh, I'm not hungry anymore,' said Malfoy, glaring at Harry. 'I lost my appetite,'

    Harry rolled his eyes. It suddenly occurred to him that this was the perfect chance to prove the Sorting Hat wrong. That Gryffindors and Slytherins couldn't get along. 'Don't be ridiculous,' he said. 'I think we can get through one snack without ripping each other's heads off,'

    Malfoy looked surprised, and then his lip curled. But just then, he looked into Harry's eyes and surprised Harry by saying, 'I know what you're trying to do,'

    'Oh?' asked Harry.

    'I can see the smirk in your eyes, Potter,' said Malfoy. 'I can practically see those rusty gears in your head trying to move. You really need to get a grip on your emotions,'

    'You haven't answered the question, Malfoy,' challenged Harry.

    'It's so obvious. You're waiting for me to turn you down and insult you, so that you can go running to Dumbledore and tell him that the Sorting Hat is wrong about inter-house relations. Well …' Malfoy leered at him, and took a seat, arms crossed defiantly on his chest. Harry felt disappointed that Malfoy hadn't taken the bait, but he sat down as well. Dobby, who had been watching the exchange, rushed off to prepare Harry's crumpets and making Malfoy another sandwich.

    'So …' Harry began, but Malfoy cut him off.

    'No talking,' the blonde said imperiously. 'Just because I'm sitting here with you doesn't mean that we're suddenly friends. Sorry to disappoint you,'

     Harry rolled his eyes. 'You are so full of it,'

    Malfoy didn't say anything but waited for his food.

    'Look—'

    'When the food comes, it will be easier, as you'll be stuffing your face with your crumpets,' snapped Malfoy. 'Until then, just try to control yourself. Chew on your tongue or something to pass the time,'

    'I don't even know why I bother,' said Harry angrily. 'You know, you may be sitting down here, but your attitude is just proving my point. A Gryffindor and Slytherin can't get along,'

    'And why should they?' asked Malfoy coldly. 'We both know that by the end of next year, one of us will be dead. Or maybe both. And we both know that we'll go down fighting each other,'

    'And how do you know that?'

    'A Malfoy,' said Draco haughtily, 'knows everything,'

    Harry snorted. 'Conceited bastard,' he muttered. Malfoy glowered at him, but didn't say anything. The two of them just sat there, looking everywhere but at each other. Harry's cheeks burned with indignation though he didn't know why. He and Malfoy always were, and always will be, enemies. There was nothing that would change that.

    Dobby came to them, carrying a platter of food. 'Your meals, Masters,' he said.

    'Dobby, you shouldn't call us Masters,' said Harry. 'You're not a slave,'

    Dobby looked worriedly at Malfoy, who was still ignoring Harry. Harry glanced at him and back to Dobby.

    'Especially to him,' he added.

    Malfoy fixed him with an icy stare. 'Hah,' he said. 'Dobby knows he has nothing to fear from me, don't you Dobby?'

    'Y—yes, Master,' stuttered Dobby.

    'He's shaking,' said Harry. 'You know, maybe you _should_ leave, Malfoy,'

    'Too late, offer's gone,' said Malfoy. He took his sandwich and ate the end delicately. Harry tossed his crumpet in his mouth, and was sure he heard Malfoy mutter something along the lines of 'uncouth pig'.

    'What was that?' asked Harry.

    'I called you a decorum-challenged uncouth pig,' said Malfoy. 'Why, got a problem?'

    'You just insulted me and you're asking if I have a problem with it?' asked Harry in disbelief.

    'I believe I just did,' said Malfoy. 'Toughen up, Potter. If you can't even handle an insult, how do you expect to handle a Killing Curse from the Dark Lord?'

    'I've handled Killing Curses from Voldemort before, thank you,' said Harry coolly. Though Malfoy had never said Voldemort's name, Harry noticed he didn't flinch like most people he knew. He could at least give his nemesis credit for that. 'Loads of them,'

    'Yes, and escaped on lucky chances,' said Malfoy. 'What if the Dark Lord decided to get a new wand? That would eliminate Priori Incantatem for you, wouldn't it? What if you're battling in a barren wasteland where there's no wizard statue to get hit by the curse? And for goodness sake, ask that house-elf what it wants. It's been there for fifteen minutes already,'

    Harry turned and saw Winky watching them carefully, hidden almost out of sight, as if trying to avoid being seen. 'Hello, Winky,' he said. 'Alright?'

    'Wi—Winky is wanting to know if sirs is wanting for more food,' said Winky, stepping out of the shadows. She was dressed in a little yellow dress which was stained with what looked like Butterbeer and soot.

    'I'm alright,' said Harry, and he turned to Malfoy. 'What about you?'

    'Fine,' said Malfoy. Winky nodded, and ran off. Malfoy turned back to Harry. 'Well, Potter? What would you do in those situations?'

    'That's the whole point of the Defense Association, isn't it, Malfoy?' said Harry, taking a bit of his crumpet. 'To learn how to protect ourselves,'

    'I'm glad you see it that way,' said Malfoy. 'So why don't you cut the crap, and teach us something useful, you muffin?'

    Harry didn't reply, allowing the insult to bounce off him. 'I have to go,'

    'I'm not stopping you,' said Malfoy. 'Just make sure no prefect finds out that you're in the kitchen, or you'll most probably be reported to a teacher,'

    'Right,' said Harry, getting up from his seat. There was a puddle of water on the floor, and he made sure to not step on it.

    'Oh, and Potter,' said Malfoy, as Harry was about to open the door to the portrait. 'I'm a prefect too you know,'

    Harry stared daggers at him and walked out of the kitchen. Malfoy wouldn't tell, particularly because he wasn't allowed near the kitchens either. As there was no one around, Harry deemed it safe to sneak back up into Gryffindor Tower.

    When he got back, Ron and Hermione were there already. Ron looked grumpy, and had his wand out. Hermione didn't seem to notice Ron's moodiness, and she had her wand out too, and they were both flicking it. When he got close, they said, '_Marmor__!' but nothing happened. Harry noticed that they were practicing on quills. 'Oh, I don't know what we're doing wrong,' said Hermione in frustration. 'We've been doing this for almost a month, and have gotten nowhere!'_

    'Well, McGonagall said that it's hard,' shrugged Ron. 'Hey, Harry,' he greeted when he saw his friend approaching. 'Where were you?'

    'Kitchens,' said Harry. 'With Malfoy,'

    He grinned when Ron and Hermione dropped their wands in shock.

    'Malfoy?' repeated Hermione. 'Oh, Harry, were you alone?'

    'Yes,' said Harry.

    Ron had gone pale. 'Mate, are you off your rocker?' he asked. 'Did Malfoy try to hex you? He did, didn't he? I knew it!'

    Harry laughed. 'Ron, calm down. Malfoy didn't try to hex me. In fact, he wanted to leave when I came, but I told him to stay,'

    Ron and Hermione exchanged confused looks. 'You … er … _told_ him to stay?' asked Hermione in a tone that suggested that she thought Harry had gone off the deep end. 'Why in the world would you do that? You _know how dangerous he is,'_

    'He wasn't about to try anything right in front of the house-elves,' reasoned Harry. 'But we didn't get along, I assure you. There's no way we're suddenly going to become friends or anything like that,'

    'Promise?' asked Ron in a small tone. Harry laughed.

    'Promise,'

    They relaxed visibly. 'So what did you talk about?' asked Hermione. 'Were you investigating him or what?'

    'I was investigating him, no,' said Harry. 'We just talked. I wanted to ask him what happened to Crabbe and Goyle, but he didn't want to talk. In the end, he just asked me how I was going to defend myself against Voldemort—' Ron winced, '—if I didn't start teaching anything good in the Defense Association. Then I left,'

    'Pretty dull,' said Ron.

    'Not really,' said Harry. 'We spent most of the time insulting each other, so it wasn't that dull. Oh, and Winky was there,' he told Hermione, who sat up straighter. 'She seems loads better now. Managed to get out whole sentences without crying and everything,'

    'Good,' said Hermione in a proud voice. 'I knew she would get over Mr. Crouch soon. He really didn't deserve such a good house-elf, you know,'

    Ron sighed, rolling his eyes. 'Yes, Hermione. We know, we know,'

    Hermione frowned, but didn't say anything. 'I don't know why I bother with this stupid charm,' she said despairingly. 'I've read everything I could about it, but it hasn't helped me at all,'

    'What about taking a break?' suggested Ron. 

    'We already took one,' said Hermione.

    'We were patrolling the hallways!' Ron cried.

    'Oh, please,' Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Don't tell me that you don't get some sort of twisted pleasure threatening the first-years to take deduct their points, and telling the other students off,'

    Ron grinned. 'Yeah, that is pretty good,' he laughed. 'I can't believe those first-years think that prefects can take off points. I certainly didn't fall for that when I was first-year,'

    'That's because they, unlike you, don't have loads of brothers to tell them all about Hogwarts,' said Hermione severely. 'You should take pit on them, Ron. They're only children,'

    'As if you're one to talk,' retorted Ron. 'What about that poor second-year you terrorized at the library last week?'

    'How hard is it?' said Hermione. 'Always put the books the place where you found them. It's not exactly Marble Transformations. I would have thought that after a whole year at Hogwarts she would have known better,'

    Harry chuckled and shook his head. 'You lot are terrible,' he said. 'Bullies, the both of you.'

    'You should see what Malfoy's doing,' said Ron.  
  


    'Yes, just two days ago, he was screaming at the top of his lungs in the library at a Hufflepuff boy who was breathing too loudly, telling him that he was disturbing the peace' said Hermione. 'He's just lucky Madam Pince had gone out for lunch,'

    Ron was shaking with silent laughter. 'It was funny though,' he told Harry. 'The Hufflepuff was so scared, and looked like he wanted to tell Malfoy that screaming in the library was worse than breathing too loud, but couldn't,'

    'Right,' said Hermione, turning back to her wand. 'I'm going to leave Marble Transformations for a while. Want to join us in Liquid Metamorphism, Harry?'

    'Alright,' Harry said, not having anything better to do anyway.

    He got out his wand, and followed Hermione's lead. '_Aquarius Mutare!_' they yelled, pointing at their quills. Nothing. By this time, Hermione was so frustrated, Harry wouldn't be surprised if she ripped up her quill right now. He tried to hide a smile and saw that Ron was doing the same too. Hermione, however, was muttering swear words at her quill under her breath hat she hadn't noticed them.

    'Hi, Harry!' Harry looked up and suppressed a groan. Colin Creevey was beaming down at him. 'I was looking for you earlier,'

    'Oh right, before I forget, Harry, Colin was looking for you earlier,' said Ron immediately. Harry threw a withering look at him, and he shrugged.

    'When's our next DA meeting?' Colin asked.

    'Which one?' asked Harry. 'The Defense Association or Dumbledore's Army?'

    'Dumbledore's Army,' replied Colin.

    'Next Monday,' said Harry, feeling a twinge of guilt. He had been paying very little attention to Dumbledore's Army because he could hardly cope with his schedule at it was. The result was that the Army had been learning as little as the Defense Association was, but he couldn't help it. His lessons barely made it to the one-hour limit. The longest class had lasted a mere fifty minutes, and that had been two weeks ago.

    Colin nodded and left them, his eyes still on Harry, who had turned back to his friends. 'Okay, one more time,' said Hermione, rolling up her sleeves.

    'Actually, Hermione,' said Harry quickly, 'I'm really tired. I think I'll just go to bed now,'

    'Oh,' said Hermione disappointedly. 'But … who will I train with?'

    Ron cleared his throat significantly.

    'Oh, I know you, Ron, but I can tell that you would rather be doing anything but studying,'

    'And Harry wouldn't?' Ron argued.

    'Good night, you two,' said Harry, eager to leave before they got into another row. Sure enough, they exploded when he left, shouting loud enough for the whole room to hear. Harry ran up the Boys Staircase and pushed the door to his room open. He made his way to his bed, and tripped on something. Getting up, he saw that his Invisibility Cloak was on the floor. He stared at it. After loaning it to Mrs. Figg, he hadn't gotten it back. Someone had come into his room, and thrown it carelessly on the floor. But who? An image of Dumbledore walking in appeared in his mind, but it was impossible. Dumbledore may have come in to return his cloak but he couldn't imagine the Headmaster tossing it like that on the floor.

    Getting to his feet, he opened the door, clutching the Cloak in his hand, and ran out. 'Harry?' he heard Ron's alarmed voice call out as he rushed past, but he didn't stop to tell him what was going on. He heard people whisper to each other as they fixed their eyes on him.

    'Look, where's his hand?'

    'Dunno. Maybe he's going to the Hospital Wing to get it fixed,'

    'Do you think he'll vanish fully or something?'

    'Don't be ridiculous, all of you,' he heard Hermione say crossly. 'Back to your activities. Now,'

    Harry silently thanked her and opened the door and running out. 'Oh, don't worry about not closing me!' he heard the Fat Lady say sarcastically. 'It's not like I don't have the power to close myself!'

    He was on his way to Dumbledore's office when he ran into Snape. 'Potter!' the Potions master snapped. 'No running in the halls. Five points from Gryff—'

    'I have to see Professor Dumbledore!' said Harry wildly. Snape raised an eyebrow.

    'The Headmaster is not here, Potter,' he said.

    'What?' Harry's eyes widened. 'Why? Where is he?'

    Snape raised an eyebrow. 'At the Ministry of Magic, Potter,' he said. 'Haven't you been reading the _Daily Prophet_? The Wizengamot postponed the decision of the position of Minister for Magic until today. Professor Dumbledore is there right now,'

    'I—I need to speak to him,' said Harry.

    'Then I suggest that you owl him,' said Snape silkily. 'What is it that's so important for you now, Potter?'

    Harry hesitated. 'I think someone sneaked into my bedroom,' he said truthfully.

    'Perhaps one of your fans?' Snape offered in a sarcastic tone.

    'I'm serious!' Harry yelled. 'Someone broke into my room. I don't think it was a Gryffindor either,'

    Snape's cool demeanor vanished instantly. 'How do you know this?' he asked.

    'I lent my Invisibility Cloak to Mrs. Figg on the day of the trial,' explained Harry. 'Almost two weeks ago, but I never got it back.' Snape's eyes drifted to the Cloak which was draped around Harry's right arm. Harry ignored him. 'And tonight, I went into my room, and I found it there,'

    Snape relaxed. 'No need for such alarm, Potter,' he said, the ice in his voice returning. 'The Headmaster, I assure you, has access to all houses. Either he delivered it himself, or most probably sent it through Professor McGonagall or one of the house-elves,'

    'That's just the thing,' said Harry desperately. 'I found it lying on the floor. No one would have just taken it to the Tower and then threw it on the floor like that,'

    Snape looked immediately suspicious. They looked up when they heard the sound of people running, and saw Ron and Hermione rushing up to them. 'We're—here,' Ron gasped, clutching a stitch at his side. 'What's—wrong?'

    'Potter thinks that someone sneaked into Gryffindor Tower today,' he said.

    Hermione straightened up. 'What?' she gaped. 'When?'

    'I don't know,' Harry admitted. 'I was going to find Dumbledore, but he's not here,'

    'As far as I know, the Cloak was being kept by the Headmaster,' said Snape.

    They came to the same conclusion at the same time. Without another word, they sped off. 'Oh my goodness,' Hermione cried when they arrived at the stone statue of the gargoyle. It had been overturned and was cracked and chipped.

    'Weasley,' said Snape, 'go and alert all the prefects to awaken the students and get them out of Hogwarts. Granger, alert the teachers, and bring Professor McGonagall here,'

    'Yes, sir,' they said in unison before hurrying off.

    'Potter,' Snape turned to Harry. 'Come with me. I want to investigate if any damage was done to Dumbledore's office,'

    Harry nodded, and they went in.

    It was worse than he thought. Several portraits of the past Headmasters and Headmistresses had been torn down. Fawkes was gone, and Dumbledore's table had been overturned. 'Phineas!' Snape called. 'Phineas, are you there?'

    'Down here!' Harry heard the voice of Phineas Nigellus, Sirius's ancestor. Snape lifted one of the portraits, which were lying facedown on the floor. Phineas was there, looking shaken. 'What happened?' Snape demanded.

    'After Dumbledore left, everything was quiet for a while,' Phineas reported. 'Then we heard a shout, and then some sort of commotion outside. After a while, the door opened, and a bunch of men came in, holding their wands. One of them ordered the others to search for something. They ripped us off and made this mess,' he gestured to the vandalism around the room.

    'Who were they?' asked Harry.

    'They were masked,' said Phineas. 'I heard one of them ask if they should shoot it, but the leader—that's the guy who told them to tear the place apart—said not unless he wanted to be punished,'

    'Death Eaters,' murmured Snape, but Harry had already figured that before Phineas had told them anything.

    'What did they want to shoot?' he asked Phineas.

    'I don't know,' Phineas shook his head. 'They didn't say. They just referred to it as 'it','

    'Maybe they meant Fawkes,' mused Harry. 'Maybe they wanted to shoot Fawkes. Or one of the portraits,'

    Snape paid him no attention. 'What did they look like?'

    'I already told you that they were masked,' said Phineas irritably. 'I tried to go to my other portrait at the House of Black and warning the redheads, but they ripped me off, and I can't very well do that without being on the wall,'

    'What happened to the bird?' asked Snape.

    'I don't know. It was here the last time I saw it,' said Phineas. 'Probably flew off into hiding. Lucky coward,'

    'Phoenixes don't go into hiding, Nigellus. You know that very well, as they are immortal,' said Snape. 'It must have gone to alert Dumbledore,'

    McGonagall came in and surveyed the scene in horror, before turning to Snape and Harry. 'Ms. Granger told me that you asked me to come. What happened?'

    'A raid, Minerva,' said Snape grimly. 'Death Eaters attacked the moment Dumbledore left. The phoenix ran to tell Dumbledore, I assume,'

    'Knocked off poor ol' Cecile Witchbaron,' said Phineas.  'She was squawking on about how their not allowed to be here, and this man with big muscles threatened to chop off her mouth with his axe, before throwing her out the window. Think she landed somewhere in the bushes below,'

    'Macnair,' said Snape. 'Malfoy must have been here too,'

    'What do want to bet that he was the one who ordered them around?' said Harry darkly. McGonagall peered out the window, which was broken, and took out her wand.

    'Dumbledore's here,' she said grimly to Snape and Harry. 'I can see him and Fawkes in the Forbidden Forest. They must have just Apparated from the Ministry. _Accio, portrait!'_

    Harry watched as a portrait flew into the air only to be caught by McGonagall. A slim woman who looked to be about seventy was in there, shivering. Dumbledore walked through the doorway, looking very serious. 'Mr. Weasley told me that there had been some kind of attack,' he said.

    'Death Eaters, Headmaster,' said Snape. 'They were looking for Potter's Invisibility Cloak,'

    Dumbledore's blue eyes, full of worry and concern, shifted to Harry, who was standing next to Snape. 'Dreadful, dreadful. They found it?'

    'I'm afraid so,' said Snape. 'They returned it to Gryffindor Tower and left it on the floor of Potter's bedroom, where he found it, and tried to tell you. I informed him that you were at the Ministry, however,'

    'Yes, a mistake to be sure,' said Dumbledore. 'Now what remains is where the students sleep,'

    'Anywhere outside the school,' said McGonagall immediately. 'This isn't like the case with Sirius, Dumbledore. We can't just place them in the Great Hall,'

    Harry didn't see a problem. 'But Professor Dumbledore's back now,' he said to McGonagall. 'And I'm sure the Death Eaters are gone, or why would they have returned the Cloak?'

    'The question is, Harry,' said Dumbledore, 'why did the Death Eaters return the Cloak at all? I'm sure Voldemort would have wanted it in his arsenal,'

    Harry bit his lip. He didn't know the answer to that.

    Dumbledore looked back at McGonagall and Snape. 'Send the students home,' he told them. 'Until further notice, Hogwarts is closed,'

    'But how will we get the students home?' asked McGonagall. 'I suppose some could fly, but what about the Muggle-borns? And the half-bloods that live in the Muggle world? Floo-Powder would be too dangerous, Albus. Half of them have never used it before,'

    Dumbledore nodded, contemplating the problem. 'Then we have no choice,' he said. 'We shall have to call the train to pick the students up. I will not place them in harm's way by allowing them to stay here. For all we know, Hogwarts could be infested with Death Eaters right now. I need you two to go out and inform the students that the carriages will be picking them up shortly to take them to the train. Make sure that the teachers wait with the students. When they have gone, tell the teachers to return, and we shall conduct a thorough search of the school. Get the school ghosts to help, especially Peeves,'

    Harry frowned in confusion. If he were Dumbledore, he would have left Peeves out of the search. He turned to the wizened man, and opened his mouth, but Dumbledore spoke up as though reading his mind.

    'Peeves, Harry, would have been banished a long time ago if he wasn't so loyal to the school. When the students lives are threatened, you can rest assured that Peeves will do everything within his power to ensure their safety. He is also a master at conducting raids,'

    Harry nodded, and opened his mouth to ask something else, but once again, Dumbledore beat him to the punch.

    'You will return to Grimmauld's Place along with Mr. and Ms. Weasley, and Ms. Granger,' the Headmaster told him. 'Please tell them to come up to my office. I believe that they are very worried about you. They are currently assembled, along with the teachers, at the Quidditch field,'

    'Yes, sir,' said Harry, leaving the room. As he left, he heard Dumbledore say to Snape and McGonagall, 'Make sure that Flora checks the greenhouses. The Death Eaters may be hiding there.' He ran down to the Quidditch pitch, where the students were talking amongst themselves. Some of them were dressed for bed, but most were dressed in their evening clothes, as it was still quite early.

    'Harry!' Seamus called out to him. 'What's happening?'

    'The students have to go home,' said Harry. 'There's been an attack,'

    The students, who had been listening in, gasped, and began talking even more. Seamus opened his mouth to ask another question, but it was drowned by the sound of the students. Professor Flitwick and Sprout came to him, hoping for some news.

    'You have to wait here with the students until the carriages arrive,' informed Harry. They nodded, and proceeded to tell everyone. Harry could see Professor Trelawney looking anxious, standing next to Hagrid, who was biting his nails. Harry joined Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Seamus, Dean, Neville and Luna, who bombarded him with questions.

    'What's happened?'

    'Why do we have to go home?'

    'Was it a Devil-Tailed Poru-Poru?'

    'For the last time, Luna, they don't exist,' said Hermione exasperatedly.

    'They do too,' said Luna. 'And they would do something just like this too. They like to cause chaos, and killing people,'

    'So do most things in the Forbidden Forest,' said Hermione.

    'That's not important!' snapped Ginny. She turned to Harry. 'What's going on, Harry?'

    'There's been an attack,' said Harry. 'Death Eaters. They raided Dumbledore's office while he was gone, looking for my Invisibility Cloak and—' he stopped short. He had just caught sight of Malfoy, who was watching him with the strangest expression on his face. It occurred to him that Malfoy and the other Slytherins could have told the Death Eaters that Dumbledore was going to be out tonight. He knew that they were now Death Eaters , after all.

    'Well?' asked Ron impatiently. 'They were looking for your Invisibility Cloak and?'

    'Malfoy,' whispered Harry.

    'What?' asked Dean.

    'Malfoy,' said Harry in a louder voice, not taking his eyes off the blonde, who was still eyeing him. 'Malfoy and the other Slytherins are all Death Eaters now. They could have easily told Voldemort that the castle was going to be unprotected tonight,'

    As if on cue, everyone turned to look at Malfoy. 'No, don't look!' hissed Harry. 'He'll know we're talking about him!'

    'So what?' asked Neville. 'We could hex him, right Harry?'

    'No, Neville,' said Harry sternly. 'Not out here in public,'

    'Potter!' They looked up when Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher, walked briskly up to them. 'Professor Dumbledore wants you, the Weasleys, and Granger in his office. You are to go to the house immediately,'

    'The house?' asked Dean, frowning.

    'Never you mind, Thomas,' said Sinistra. 'Come on. He's waiting,'

    'Yes, ma'am,' said the four students, following her. When they got there, Dumbledore didn't say anything, but simply throwing the Floo Powder into the fire, which grew large enough to envelope them, and turning emerald green. Ron went first.

    'Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!' he yelled, before being sucked in. Ginny went next, followed by Harry.

    Traveling by Floo Powder was horrible, but he landed at Headquarters safely, albeit a bit ungracefully. He stood up and got out of the way, and a second later, Hermione was spat out of the fireplace. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley was there, along with Tonks and Lupin, who went up to them, arms open. He enveloped Harry in a hug. 'What happened?' he asked. 'Phineas Nigellus appeared a few minutes ago, telling us to prepare for your arrival,'

    'The school's been invaded,' said Harry.

    'Sit down,' said Tonks, pointing at the table. 'Tell us everything,'

    'Yes, I want to hear this too,' said Ginny. They sat down at the table, and Mrs. Weasley went to make a pot of tea. 'Alright, what happened, Harry?'

    Harry opened his mouth, but then they heard the doorbell. Mr. Weasley got up and opened the door, and a second later, Fred, George, Angelina and Katie appeared. 'Katie Apparated in the joke shop just now,' said Fred.

    'She told us that Hogwarts was under siege or something,' said Angelina.

    'What were you doing in Fred and George's joke shop so late at night?' inquired Mr. Weasley distrustfully. Angelina blushed.

    'Nothing,' she said in a guilty tone, before quickly turning to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. 'So is this true? Hogwarts has been taken over?'

    'Hardly,' said Harry wryly. 'There was an invasion,'

    'Sit down,' Ginny offered.

    Mr. Weasley took out his wand and flicked it. '_Elongate,_' he said, and the end of the table lengthened. Mr. Weasley drew up a few more chairs, and Fred, George, Angelina and Katie sat down. Mrs. Weasley came out with the teakettle and cups on a tray.

    Harry started the story when everyone had sat down. 'I went up to my bedroom, and was about to go to my bed, but I tripped on the Invisibility Cloak on the floor,' he said. 'That was strange because I had lent it to Mrs. Figg so that she could make the switch on the Veritaserum for the trial almost two weeks ago, and I hadn't gotten it back. Dumbledore may have given it back, but he wouldn't have thrown it on the floor like that, so I went to ask him about it. But Snape told me that Dumbledore was at a meeting with the Wizengamot in the Ministry of Magic. Ron and Hermione came up, and we went to check his office. The stone gargoyle had been overturned, and the office was a mess. Fawkes had gone to alert Dumbledore, and when he came, he told Snape and McGonagall to send the students home. He seemed to think that there were still Death Eaters hiding in the school,'

    'So how long will Hogwarts be closed?' asked Ron.

    'I don't know,' Harry shrugged.

    'But why would the Death Eaters want your Invisibility Cloak?' asked Ginny. 'It can't have been for the Cloak itself, or else they would have taken it,'

    'I don't know,' sighed Harry.

    'I do,' said Hermione. 'I bet it was for the Orb of Confusion,'

    'I'll bet it is!' said Ron excitedly. 'You said that it's a good weapon, didn't you Harry?'

    'Wait you have the Orb of Confusion?' asked Fred. 'Oh man! That is _excellent!_ Can we borrow it?'

    'Absolutely not!' said Mrs. Weasley sharply. 'It is not a toy,'

    'What's the Orb of Confusion?' Ginny asked, puzzled.

    'It can make you say the funniest things,' said George.

    'It's a weapon,' said Harry. 'Merlin made it. I got it from Filch in order to use it against Voldemort,' Everyone except him, Hermione and Lupin flinched.

    'Do you have it now?' asked Lupin, who had remained silent this whole time.

    'No,' said Harry. 'I'm not even sure that I have it anymore. I didn't bother to check. I ran as soon as I found out that the room had been broken into,'

    Lupin sank back into his seat. 'Oh, no,' he murmured. 'Oh, this is horrible,'

    'Not a problem,' said Fred confidently. 'We can just nip into the Forest and go into Hogwarts—'

    'Not after it's been attacked, you're not!' said Mrs. Weasley in alarm. 'Now, listen you lot,' she addressed Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Angelina and Katie. 'Until Hogwarts is officially reopened, you are not, I repeat _not_ to set foot in there,'

    'Your mother's right,' said Mr. Weasley, focusing on his three sons. 'And the rest of you, it's too dangerous right now,'

    'That's right,' agreed Lupin. 'You have to swear to us that you won't go near Hogwarts or the Forbidden Forest. If it weren't for Fred and George's joke shop, I wouldn't want you to go into Hogsmeade either. However,' he glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, 'the four Weasleys aren't my responsibility. Harry, this is for your own good. I don't think you should leave Grimmauld Place while you're here,'

    'Why?' asked Harry.

    'How can you ask that?' asked Tonks. 'You could have died tonight! Chances are, there was a Death Eater hiding in your bedroom just waiting to strangle you while you slept or something,'

    'But that's not all, is it?' asked Harry. 'There's something else going on.' His eyes shifted accusingly from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, to Lupin, to Tonks. 'Something is going on here. Something the Order knows that they're not telling me,'

    'The Order isn't your business,' said Lupin curtly. 'Harry, you have to listen to us. We only want what's best for you. With Voldemort back, your life is in terrible danger, and you can't just downplay it. Everything we tell you now that concerns the Order is strictly on a need-to-know basis,'

    Harry wanted to argue, but nodded. 'Right,' he said quietly.

   There was a beat of silence, and Mr. Weasley clapped his hands together. 'Right then,' he said, 'it's been a long night, and I'm sure everyone is eager to get some rest. Fred, George, Angelina and Katie, would you like to stay the night?'

    'I don't think you have enough beds, Dad,' said Fred brightly, standing up.

    'Yes. We might have to share with Angelina and Katie if we were to stay,' George raised his eyebrows, grinning. Mr. Weasley paled considerably. Harry got up too, followed by Ron, Hermione and Ginny. The four older kids Apparated out with a _crack, leaving the others in an uncomfortable silence._

    'Right,' said Tonks. 'Well, I'm off. The Ministry would most probably need all hands on deck to fight off the _Prophet tomorrow about what happened in Hogwarts, and the events with the Wizengamot,'_

    'Oh, did they decide who's going to be the new Minister?' asked Hermione.

    'Not that I know of,' said Tonks. 'But then again, Ministry officials aren't allowed to be a part of the decision-making process. We're only allowed to vote when the Wizengamot put up the candidates,'

    'So you don't know who the candidates are?' asked Ron.

    Mr. Weasley laughed. 'Even the candidates don't know they're candidates. It's completely hush-hush until the Wizengamot decides to put them up. Then they can either drop out, or new people can appeal to them to be a candidate,'

    In their bedroom, Harry was no closer to sleeping than he was in flying to the moon on his broom. 'Still awake?' asked Ron.

    'Yes,' said Harry. 'I just don't understand it. What is Voldemort up to?' If Ron winced, he didn't see it. He was too busy contemplating. 'It's something big,' he said. 'That much I know,'

    'And it involves the Department of Intelligence,' added Ron.

    'And it involves the Department of Intelligence,' Harry agreed. 'I also know that the Slytherins are now Death Eaters, probably turned during the summer.

    'Why don't we make a list of all the things we know?' suggested Ron.

    'Good idea,' said Harry, sitting up. He turned on the lamp and dug around the desk for some sheets of paper.

    'Here,' said Ron helpfully, holding up a sheet of paper and a quill. Harry took it and sat on the edge of his bed, while Ron sat at the edge of his own, the two of them facing each other.

    'Okay,' said Harry. 'We know that Voldemort needs a link to the Department of Intelligence,'

    'And that he's lost his link already,' said Ron. Harry scribbled down the points. 'We know that he's building his army,'

   'Right,' Harry nodded, writing it down. 'I think that's basically it,'

    'That's pathetic,' scoffed Ron.

    'It really is,' Harry nodded in agreement. 'Oh, and we know it's something major. Voldemort—' this time he saw Ron wince. 'Don't you ever get tired of wincing every time you hear his name?' asked Harry. 'I mean, I can understand it in our first, and okay maybe second year. But you've heard it so many times now, especially in our third year in the Shrieking Shack,'

    'Harry, you don't get tired of being _afraid of someone,' Ron said in a tone that suggested that he was teaching a complicated charm to a two-year old. 'You-Know-Who did some really evil things back then,'_

    'Yes, yes, I know,' Harry said. 'He killed and tortured because he was bored. Must have been too exposed to Binns,'

    'Don't joke about that,' said Ron.

    'How can I _not joke about that?' demanded Harry. 'We have a crazed lunatic who wants to rule the world, but can't even get past an adolescent, especially when he was a year old,'_

    'Well, he got past you in your fourth year,' said Ron quietly. Harry fell silent.

    'About ruddy time, too,' muttered Harry. Ron stared at him, but Harry didn't bother to look at him. 'My point is, you've heard his name so many times. And you weren't even around when all the things he did happened. You shouldn't be scared. At least not of his name,'

    'But I _am_,' said Ron in a stubborn voice. 'What do you want me to do? I can't help it. It's not like I _want_ to be scared. It's just that my whole life I've been taught to fear him. That he may be dead, but that there was also a chance that he was still alive and would be coming back. And after my first year, my parents were only all the more convinced. They put up protective charms all around the Burrow after what Dumbledore told them about Quirrel helping You-Know-Who to get the Philosopher's Stone,'

    Harry was silent, and was thinking about how he could help his friend from his handicap. 'I know,' he spoke up. 'I'll help you through it,'

    Ron looked taken aback. 'What?'

    'I'll help you,' Harry repeated. 'And Hermione will too,'

    'I really don't consider not saying his name a setback,' said Ron.

    'I do,' said Harry firmly. 'Chances are, we're going to war by the end of this year, if not sooner, and a fine sight you'd make if you started shaking at the mention of his name,'

    Ron exhaled. 'Fine,' he granted. 'Now, can we go to bed?'

    'Sure,' said Harry, and they lay back on their mattresses and closed their eyes, the list forgotten.

*

    'No,' said Ron adamantly.

    'Ron, you promised!' said Harry in an accusatory tone.

    'Oh, wake up Harry. This isn't a perfect world. Promises were made to be broken,' said Ron.

    'Very well,' said Hermione. Harry and Ron stared at her in shock. They weren't used to her giving in so easily. Hermione hummed a little tune, and Harry noticed her hand sneaking downward, where her wand was being held. Then, she seized it and pointed it at Ron. '_Stupefy!' Ron opened his mouth, most probably to scream and duck, but he was hit with the red light and remained frozen._

    'Hermione!' said Harry in a half-horrified, half-impressed tone.

    She shrugged.

    'You can't expect me to be around you for over six years, and in the Army for almost a year without learning a thing or two,' she grinned. 'Come on. I'll grab his hands, you grab his legs, and we'll take him to the living room,'

    'Right,' nodded Harry, seizing his friend's legs. When Hermione had gotten a good hold on his arms, they marched down the stairs, past the closed portrait of Mrs. Black, and into the living room, where they set him down in a horizontal position. '_Ennervate__!' Harry pointed the wand at him, and a second later, Ron was blinking furiously._

    'I could report you two,' he muttered, getting to his feet. 'Alright, since we're here, I _suppose it wouldn't hurt to try,'_

    'Good,' said Harry in a self-satisfied tone. 'Voldemort,'

    Ron cringed.

    'Voldemort,' said Hermione, who was standing behind him. Ron jumped a little, but then turned to face her.

    'Voldemort,' said Harry.

    Ron flinched. There was a loud _crack and Tonks appeared before them. 'Voldemort,' said Harry again. Ron glared at him._

    'What's going on?' asked Tonks.

    'We're trying to teach Ron how to overcome his fear of Voldemort's name,' said Hermione. 'But this is one of the most stubborn psychological ailments I've ever seen. No matter what, he refuses to not react at the sound of his name.

    'Oh, it sounds fun. Can I play too?' asked Tonks earnestly.

    'Sure,' Harry smiled. Tonks beamed.

    'Voldemort,' she said. Ron fixed her with an angry stare, which he directed to Harry when he said the name, then Hermione when she did the same. This went on for another five minutes until Mr. Weasley came in.

    'Tonks, what are you doing?' he asked.

    'We're teaching Ron to hear Voldemort's—' Ron and Mr. Weasley winced, '—name and not … wince. Harry, I think we need to work on Arthur too,'

    'Right,' said Harry. 'Voldemort,'

    Mr. Weasley looked annoyed. 'As much as I would love to stay and hear that name continuously, _we have work to do, don't we, Tonks?'_

    'Ugh. Yes, Arthur,' said Tonks. 'And we'd better hurry. I was in the Ministry earlier checking up on Bode, and I saw that awful Montgomery Young snooping around. Do you know that he's been linked to Violet Jones from Page Eleven? What a match made in hell that is. If they were to have children, they'd be the loudest, most annoying ones on the in the world,'

    'Can you imagine? Babies with his eyebrows and her nose?' said Mr. Weasley. He and Tonks shuddered in revulsion.

    'See you, Harry, Hermione,' said Tonks. 'Ron, you keep working on that name, alright?'

    'Okay,' said Ron.

    'Bye, kids,' said Mr. Weasley, and they were about to Apparate when Harry spoke up.

    'Wait, Tonks did you say that you were checking up on Bode?' he asked. 'Harrison Bode, the one who was taken into custody after the attack on him?'

    'Why, yes,' said Tonks. 'Poor man. He got a dreadful fright from those Death Eaters. He still sits in his little corner talking about the evils of potted plants and how he wishes that he could kill all the Devil's Snares. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement sends me to visit him from time to time in St. Mungo's.' She turned to Mr. Weasley. 'I saw Frank and Alice on my last visit. Not in very good health. They miss their son very much, I think. What's his name—Norton?'

    'Something like that,' said Mr. Weasley.

    'Neville,' said Ron.

    'Right. Neville Longbottom,' Mr. Weasley told Tonks.

    'How is he?' Harry interrupted. 'Bode, I mean,'

    The two adults looked surprised. 'Fine,' said Tonks slowly. 'Why?'

    Harry shrugged. 'No reason. Do you think we could come and visit him with you sometime?'

    'Now look you three,' said Mr. Weasley, before Tonks could open her mouth. 'I don't want you meddling in affairs that don't concern you. Leave everything up to the Order, understood?'

    'Yes, dad,' said Ron.

    Mr. Weasley nodded. 'Good. Come on, Tonks. We have to go. All hands on deck, remember,'

    They disappeared with a _crack!_

    'Voldemort,' said Hermione. Ron winced.

    After lunch that day, they resumed their work on Ron, and Hermione said that they seemed to have made some improvement. Ron had shifted from cringing to a mere wince when he heard the Dark Lord's name. They took a break, and Harry told his friends about what Dumbledore had said about Peeves, and about his newfound respect for the poltergeist. Eventually, the talk shifted to Voldemort. Ron didn't wince when he heard Voldemort's name, but he did bite on his lips.

    'Don't,' commanded Hermione. 'It'll bleed,'

    'I just don't understand what he's up to,' said Harry.

    'Well, you always find out in the end,' said Hermione. 'It's only been two months, Harry,'

    'Five,' said Harry glumly. 'You aren't counting the summer holidays,'

    'Doesn't You-Know-Who take a break during the summer?' asked Ron.

    Harry laughed hollowly.

    'Haven't you ever heard of the expression 'No rest for the wicked', Ron?' he asked. 'No, if anything, the summer is when Voldemort punishes his Death Eaters for the latest failed attempt at dominating the world, then comes up with a new plan,'

    'Don't know why he's so eager to control the world, anyway,' said Fred. He and George walked into the room, wearing identical grins. 'Can you imagine having idiots like Fudge under your care?'

    'When did you get in?' asked Ron.

    'About two seconds ago,' said Fred. 'Thought we'd pop by and cheer up Mum. Doesn't look like Dad will be home until late,'

    'Yeah,' said George. 'We Apparated to the Ministry, and there were reporters everywhere. The _Daily Prophet_ were there, along with the _Evening Prophet, and _Witch Weekly_.'_

    'Strange that we didn't see old Skeeter there, though,' added Fred.

    'I hear she works for _The Quibbler now,' said Hermione. 'Ever since she sent in that article about Harry. The __Daily Prophet refused to take her back,'_

    'Yeah,' nodded George. 'Violet Jones is the new Rita Skeeter it seems. She's just a gossip columnist, but her stories have about as much credit as Skeeter's. Maybe more,'

    'Anyway,' said Fred, sitting down next to Harry on the couch, 'what are you three up to? A nice vacation from Hogwarts, surely you're not going to waste it inside,'

    'We're trying to help Ron overcome his fear of Voldemort's name,' reported Harry.

    'Why on earth would you want to do that?' asked George, taking his place next to Fred.

    'Because it's a handicap,' said Hermione.

    'As I recall, Hermione, you were once afraid of his name too,' Ron said.

    'With good reason,' said Hermione hotly. 'I'm a Muggle-born. You're a pureblooded wizard, Ron. You have nothing to fear from Voldemort,'

    Ron winced, and stared at the twins when they didn't react. George shrugged.

    'We don't mind his name,' he said. 'We just don't want to say it,'

    'Yeah, what's he going to do?' asked Harry. 'It's not as if he's going to appear and ring on the doorbell just because we say his name,'

    The doorbell rang. 

    Everyone jumped up a mile in the air. There was a tense silence, and Hermione giggled nervously.

    'Wow, what a coincidence,' she said. She got up and went to the door.

    'No!' shouted Ron. 'Don't do it, Hermione! It could be—it could be … him,'

    'Oh, Ron don't be so ridiculous,' chastised Hermione. She went out of the door, and a moment later reappeared with Lee Jordan.

    'Hey, Lee,' said George cheerily, waving.

    'Hey,' said Lee. 'Angelina talked to me through the fear and told me about Hogwarts. Then I saw the paper. What happened?'

    'There was an invasion,' said Harry.

    'Yeah, I gathered as much,' said Lee, sitting down. 'I mean what were they after?'

    'We think they were after the Orb of Confusion,' said Hermione. 'But we don't know for sure,'

    Lee stopped her. 'Wait, what do you mean? You had the Orb of Confusion?'

    'Yes,' said Harry. 'Dumbledore told Filch to give it to me,'

    Lee cracked up. 'Oh, man, this is priceless. Do you have it now?'

    'No,' said Ron. 'Harry left it in Hogwarts. Actually, we're not too sure that it's there anymore,'

    Lee's face fell. 'Damn,' he said. He turned to Fred and George. 'If we had that, we could have been the new Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs,'

    'Yeah,' said Fred quietly. George grinned. Harry frowned, noticing that Fred had tensed visibly when Lee came in, and wondered why. Fred, George and Lee had been the best of friends when they were back in Hogwarts. He wondered if that had changed after they graduated. He decided that it was impossible, and Lee and George didn't act any different.

    'We have to get back to training,' said Hermione, turning to Ron. Ron groaned.

    'Oh, come on, Hermione. You're taking this too far,'

    'I'm not, Ron! Tell him, Harry,'

    'We're only doing this for your own good,' said Harry. 'Now come on. Let's hear you say Voldemort's name,'

    Fred, George and Lee watched in interest. Ron paused. 'V—Vol—'

    'Just a little bit more,' said Harry.

    Ron tried again. 'Vol …' he trailed off. 'I—I can't,'

    Harry sighed tiredly. 'Ron, it's just nine letters. How hard can it be?'

    'Very,' insisted Ron.

    'Look,' said Harry. 'You already have three of the letters down. Just six more to go. Come on, give it a try,'

    Ron bit his lip. After a moment, he nodded. Harry could see that he was preparing, as though he was about to jump off a cliff instead of saying a name.

    'Volde …'

    'That's it,' whispered Hermione. They were on the brink of a break through. 'Just a little bit more, Ron,'

    'Volde …' Ron tried again He stopped, and shut his eyes tightly. 'Voldemort!' he screamed.

    There was a stunned silence. 'He did it,' Harry whispered five seconds later. He jumped to his feet. 'He did it!'

    'Oh, Ron, I'm so proud of you,' Hermione enveloped him in a hug. Ron blushed furiously, and began to stammer. Fred clapped Ron on the back, and George grinned. Lee chuckled, and Harry was looking at his friend with pride. Now he only had to train the rest of the wizarding world into not fearing Voldemort's name.

    'Just don't go on chanting it at the dinner table, Ron,' said George.

    'Yeah, I think that if you say his name three times, he takes over the world,' Fred joked, and got a slap on the arm from Hermione as a result.

    'Can I go now?' asked Ron hopefully.

    'Yes,' laughed Harry. 'I'm starving. Let's see if dinner is ready,'

    Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen making some eggs, but the rest of the dinner was ready. 'Oh, good,' she said when they came in. 'Take out the food and put them on the table. This will only take a few minutes,'

    Ginny came down after they had set the plates, and asked Mrs. Weasley if anyone was joining them fro dinner, and she replied that Lupin was showing up later. They had roast beef and mushrooms and eggs, and in the middle the doorbell rang, and Lupin came in to shouts from Mrs. Black's portrait. 'Oh,' said Mrs. Weasley distressfully, 'we really have to find a way to get it out of here,'

    'I saw Dumbledore earlier,' said Lupin, sitting himself down. 'It looks like the whole school needs to be put under a spell, which is going to take a very long time. It doesn't look like you can return until November,'

    'But the Death Eaters would have escaped by then,' argued Harry.

    'Oh, no,' said Lupin, shaking his head. 'A Revealing Charm was cursed by Dumbledore to reveal if there were any Death Eaters hiding, but there were none. They're putting on more protective charms to prevent this. It looks like some of the protective charms were destroyed by Voldemort's followers,'

    They nodded, and returned to their food. Harry couldn't help but feel disappointed. He was banned from visiting Hogsmeade, and now that Hogwarts was under renovations, it looked like he would have to miss his Halloween date with Seamus. I just wasn't fair. With this thought in his mind, Harry bit viciously into his portion of roast beast..


	9. Chapter Nine

_Goliath_

'Balls,' whispered Harry as he waved his wand around. The feather he had been trying to turn into marble had no effect whatsoever. He was getting extremely tired of waving his wand and having to results whatsoever. Hermione, on the other hand, had managed to transform more than a quarter of her quill into marble. Harry and Ron were so bad that they had been reduced to practicing on feathers instead of quills for the meantime. Ron was gazing forlornly at his feather, not even bothering to say the words. Hermione was no where to be found. It was the last week of October, and they were going to leave for Hogwarts in a few days. Harry, however, couldn't help but think about how wasted his October was. He had missed the chance to go out with Seamus to Hogsmeade and couldn't stop dwelling on it. Eventually, Ron got so fed up of Harry's moodiness that he left the room.

    The next day, Harry woke up to see Dumbledore's head in the fire with Mr. Weasley talking to him quietly. No one else was in the room, and when Harry made his presence known, the two of them stopped talking immediately. 'Hello, Harry,' said Dumbledore.

    'Hello, Professor,' nodded Harry.

    'Well, Arthur, I think I'd best be getting along now,' Dumbledore turned to Mr. Weasley. 'I still have to see Mr. Kublan. We have a meeting set up at ten this morning,'

    'Sure you wouldn't like a bit of breakfast, Dumbledore?' asked Mrs. Weasley, coming into the room. 'I made toast with honey which I'm sure you'd enjoy,'

    'No, thank you, Molly,' declined Dumbledore. 'No time to lose. It's getting close to ten, and I have to make sure Cornelius doesn't see me. Oh, and Harry—' Dumbledore turned to him, '—Alastor would like to apologize for not meeting you in the Ministry the morning of the trial, but he had to leave urgently on a trip and has just returned,'

    'I was supposed to meet Moody?' Harry frowned.

    'Indeed. I believe he sent you a note telling you to meet him in a secret location which I would take you to,'

    Suddenly Harry remembered the unsigned note that he had gotten before the trial. 'Oh, it's okay,' he said. Dumbledore nodded and disappeared within the flames.

*

    The return to Hogwarts was uneventful. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the last carriage alone, and Harry told them about what Dumbledore said about Moody. Hermione was looking past Harry and didn't seem to even be listening. Only when Ron nudged her in the shoulder did she look at them. 'Sorry,' she apologized. 'I've just been thinking … what if Voldemort didn't want anything?'

    'What are you talking about?' Ron raised his eyebrows.

    'Well, think about it. Harry said he heard that the Slytherins are all Death Eaters now right? And Voldemort clearly isn't pleased with the performance his current Death Eaters have been displaying. Maybe he wants to bring all the Slytherins for … I don't know … debriefing or something. It would be pretty much impossible for the school to notice that a quarter of its students were missing one morning, so Voldemort decided to have Hogwarts evacuated or something,'

    'Can someone even plan that flawlessly?' asked Ron doubtfully.

    'Yes,' replied Harry immediately, his mind on his fourth year. 'This is _Voldemort_, Ron. He doesn't do anything without considering all the things that could go wrong first. I bet that's what he was up to,'

    'Well, it would be a bonus if he got the Orb now, wouldn't it?' said Hermione. 'Something created by Merlin … Voldemort would surely be after it if he was aware of its existence.'

    'Oh, he's aware,' said Harry darkly. 'He's probably been aware of it since he started his first year at Hogwarts. He probably just couldn't find it before,'

    'It's really strange, isn't it?' said Ron. 'Why do you suppose Filch had it when Siri—they stole it?' he amended, casting an uncertain look at Harry. Harry shrugged.

    'Dumbledore probably gave it to him,' said Harry. Ron nodded, relieved to see that he hadn't made a mistake in nearly saying Sirius's name.

    When they arrived in school, the three of them were practically starving, and Ron said a little prayer of thanks at being able to return to Hogwarts without having to endure the Sorting ceremony before eating. They burst through the door of the Great Hall, and the first thing Harry noticed was that Dumbledore wasn't at his usual seat in the teachers table. His eyes scanned the room to see if anyone else was missing, and he was surprised to find that Professors McGonagall and Snape were not around either. He pointed this out to his friends.

    'Where do you suppose they went?' whispered Hermione.

    'I dunno … maybe they went to make sure the castle was secure?' said Ron doubtfully. Neither Harry nor Hermione bothered to point out that Dumbledore would have made sure that the castle was completely safe before allowing the students to return. When they walked over to the Gryffindor table, they passed Lorena, who was talking to Cho Chang. Lorena looked up in time to wave to the three of them, but Cho kept her eyes steadily averted, apparently still not forgiving Harry for their failed relationship last year.

    Percy, it seemed, had not missed the disappearance of his colleagues and was seen asking Professor Sinistra something, but back down at the sour look she gave him. Five minutes passed while the students sat down talking amongst themselves before the door to the Great Hall opened again and Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape walked in. Dumbledore's face showed no emotion, but McGonagall looked angry and Snape was scowling. They sat down at the teachers table, and Dumbledore surveyed them smilingly. 'I know you are all hungry, so I will no deny you the pleasure of food tonight,' he said. 'Enjoy,'

    At this last word, the food the house-elves had prepared magically appeared before them and the students immediately began to pile the food on their plates. Harry saw students chattering happily, giving no acknowledgement to the fact that they had just returned to the school after being sent home from an attack. Finally, he heard Dean Thomas say to Seamus, 'My mum was really worried. My parents didn't want me to go back,'

    'Gram was reluctant too,' Neville piped up. 'But she knew that with Dumbledore around, nothing's going to happen,'

    'Me mam was the same,' said Seamus, helping himself to some potatoes. 'I was beginning to think I needed to run away and take the Knight Bus,' he winked at Harry. 'Good thing it wasn't … er, _blown out of proportion,_'

    Harry blushed at the reference Seamus made about the summer before his third year at Hogwarts when he had accidentally blown up his Aunt Marge. Ron and Hermione seemed to have gotten it too, because they both started sniggering. Dean and Neville raised their eyebrows in confusion and Harry inwardly cursed himself for telling the story to Seamus, but couldn't help but grin.

    That night, the common room was filled with Gryffindors excitedly talking about the events before the break. Harry, Ron and Seamus went up to their room to check if the Orb of Confusion was still there, and to Harry's immense relief, they found it in his bed, where he had put it last.

    'Strange, though, isn't it?' said Ron as the three of them walked down the stairs. 'Why didn't they go after the Orb? It was in plain sight, and we know they went into our room,'

  
    'Maybe they didn't know that it was,' Seamus offered.

    'Voldemort would know,' said Harry, and was pleased to see that Ron didn't wince. However, Seamus did, and Harry realized he needed to work on that.

    'But he didn't come, did he?' Ron pointed out. 'Maybe it was a stupid Death Eater like …' he paused, his eyes widening. 'Like Crabbe and Goyle!' he breathed. Harry paused. He didn't know how Crabbe and Goyle would know the layout of Gryffindor Tower enough to sneak up and get out within five minutes, but perhaps the reason they had disappeared was so that they could spy on the Gryffindors. Harry had to admit, that didn't make sense. Malfoy was surely more capable of something so complicated, and he hadn't pulled any disappearing acts. In fact, Harry remembered seeing him in the Great Hall tonight as well.

    'Maybe,' he said to Ron, though he wasn't too convinced. He looked over the crowds of students still awake and realized that he felt no urge to mingle with them—not even Hermione. He faked a yawn and turned to his best friend and boyfriend. 'Well, I'm knackered. I think I'll just go to bed now,'

    'Right, right,' said Ron distractedly, peering at the students, obviously trying to find Hermione to tell her his theory. 'I'll see you tomorrow then,'

    'Yeah, you will,' said Harry darkly. 'Defense first period with Percy, remember?'  
  


    This got Ron's attention because he groaned audibly. 'Damn. I forgot,' he sighed. 'Alright. You're going to need a good night's sleep if that's the case. See you,' and he went off to the common room.

    'That was the fakest yawn I have ever had the misfortune of seeing,' Seamus smirked. Harry grinned sheepishly. 'Well, I would love to keep you company while you _sleep_, but Dean made me promise to play a game of Wizard Chess tonight,'

    'You go ahead,' said Harry. 'I'm going to try to go to sleep anyway,'

    'See you at breakfast then,' Seamus said, leaning in and kissing him on the lips quickly.

    'See you,' Harry grinned.

*

    Harry's was watching as Nearly-Headless Nick played ping-pong with his now completely severed head with an unseen person. Nick was very happy that he had finally gotten totally headless. Looking around, Harry noticed that they were in the Great Hall and that all the students were present, clapping merrily. Harry saw Hermione laughing at a parrot that was laughing back. Ron was dealing cards to no one and Seamus was lying down on the floor playing Wizards Chess with Dean.

    The scene changed and Harry found himself sitting in what appeared to be a desert. The sun was blocked out by clouds and Harry was shivering from the cold. There was nothing there. There were no trees and all Harry could see before him was an endless stretch of sand. Then his scar began to hurt.

    Harry sat up in bed, gasping for breath. 'Fuck,' he whispered. Another dream involving Voldemort. Though Harry hadn't seen him, the prickling of his scar told him that Voldemort had been close by. He moaned and lay back down on his mattress. However, he didn't return to sleep, choosing to stay up for the remainder of the night.

    As a consequence, Harry was completely unprepared for classes the next morning. Ron had to nudge him awake five times the next day while they listened to Percy lecture them on Gremlins. It seemed that anything inhuman was classified as a Dark Creature to Percy, and Harry wondered how long it would be before the class was taught about the evils of house-elves. 'I know he's boring, mate,' said Ron after class, 'but what's gotten into you? Even Binns didn't make you fall asleep that soon in an hour. You barely waited five minutes!'

    Harry tried to fight off a yawn and failed. 'Couldn't sleep,' he lied. All night long he had wanted nothing better than to fall asleep, but couldn't for fear of dreaming. He hadn't forgotten the end result of his last batch of dreams. It had gotten Sirius killed.

    It was then and there that Harry resolved to find Snape and resume his Occlumency classes again.

    Double Potions was next, and Snape told them to go to their partners and begin what he had written on the board. 'This is the Anti-Aging potion,' announced Snape, gesturing to the board. 'If made too strong, the user will disappear off the face of this earth forever, and not in a very pleasant way. You will all be tested on it before you hand it up to me,'

    There was hushed whispering as everyone went to work. Malfoy, too, seemed to be anxious not to mess up the potion. Harry made extra sure that he read everything correctly. There was silence as they worked feverishly. Harry added his ingredients carefully and stirred his potion three times before adding the frog tongue. After an hour, Snape said, 'Your potion should be yellow and odorless by now,'

    Harry checked his and was pleased to see that his potion was more or less yellow and he couldn't smell a thing.  Hermione looked immensely relived too, but Ron was hastily checking the ingredients on the board. Snape passed Harry and Draco, and Harry fought back a smile when Snape's eyes narrowed at his potion. Snape couldn't find anything wrong with it, so he moved on. He didn't say anything about Hermione's potion either, but stopped at Ron's.

    'Weasley, I thank you for volunteering your services to be the first to test your potion,' Snape said in a mockingly polite way. Ron turned green as Snape walked away, and Hermione turned to him and told him what to do. Ron nodded and quickly began to doctor his potion.

    When there was only five minutes left in the class, Snape told them to dip their vials into their potions. 'If you have made it correctly,' he told them, 'you will all remain the same. However, if overdone, you will be reverting back to your childhoods. If _under_done, you shall age years in the space of seconds. Drink.'

    Nervously, Harry tipped his head back and finished his potion in one gulp. It was tasteless, so he had to wait to see if anything happened. Happily, he noted after a few seconds that he seemed to be at the correct age. Malfoy seemed to be normal too. Hermione let out a sigh of relief, and Harry knew that her potion had been made correctly too. Ron seemed to be a little paler, but otherwise normal. Snape surveyed the scene with distaste oh his face. Obviously, he had been hoping that something bad would happen to Ron or some other Gryffindor.

    'To my utmost surprise,' he sneered, 'all of you seem to have—yes, Ms. Parkinson, you have a question?'

    'No, sir,' said Pansy Parkinson in a sweet voice. 'I was just wondering if you had given Ms. Granger permission to tell Weasley how to correct his potion,'

    There was a gleam in Snape's eye. 'Indeed I didn't,' he said. 'Ten points from Gryffindor, Ms. Granger, for telling Mr. Weasley the correct order of the potion when I didn't tell you to. And ten points from Gryffindor, Weasley, for being a sheep and following her words blindly,'

    Ron opened his mouth in indignation, but one warning look from Hermione caused him to close him. Snape nodded, satisfied. 'Pack up,' he ordered. 'And get out of my classroom,' 

    After all the students had left, Harry went up to Snape. 'Professor?'

    'I have a class now with the fourth-years, Potter,' said Snape, not bothering to look up from the papers on his desk. 'So if you could make yourself scarce …'

    'I, er …' Harry wished now that he hadn't told Ron and Hermione to go on to Transfiguration without him. 'I wanted to ask you if you could … um …'

    Snape sighed impatiently. 'Hurry up, Potter,' 

    'IwantedtoaskyoutoteachmeOcclumencyagain,' Harry said very quickly. Snape watched him, and Harry thought for a moment that he had to repeat it (it wouldn't be the first time he had to repeat something when he talked this fast). However, Snape, opened the drawer on his desk and stuffed the papers in and closed it.

    'Absolutely not,' he said. 'Now, if you please …' he pointed to the door. Harry contemplated refusing to leave until Snape gave in to him, but knew it was no use. Nodding bitterly, he walked out of the dungeon and up the stairs to the Transfiguration room. Professor McGonagall was already there when Harry took his seat, and she told him to take out his quill and practice his Marble Transformations. He was so angry at Snape that he barely even noticed that he had transformed half of his quill into marble in just twenty minutes and earned a round of applause from the class.

    'That was really good, Harry!' said Hermione enthusiastically once they were let out for lunch. 'I never knew you had been practicing so much!'

    'Huh?' grunted Harry. 'Oh, right,'

    Hermione looked put out that Harry wasn't more interested in the progress he had made in Transfiguration but let it slide as they entered the Great Hall for lunch. Ron took a seat next to Ginny, who was busily scarfing down her food. After Harry and Hermione sat down, the door to the Great Hall opened again and the rest of the sixth-years came in. Kalana Kolaris gave him a little wave before sitting next to a friend of hers, another girl whose name Harry didn't know.

    'By the way, Harry, we haven't been getting much Quidditch practice lately,' said Ginny, looking at him.

    'I know,' said Harry apologetically. 'Sorry. We're going to do it on Wednesday,'

    'Did you get it checked with Madam Hooch?' asked Ron. 'Or else the Slytherins might take that slot away from us,'

    'Not yet …' said Harry. 'But I will,'

    He looked up at the Great Hall again. Percy was reading a book at the teachers table; Lorena was examining her nails; Ernie Macmillan was pointing at his prefect's badge on his chest while talking to Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Malfoy was smiling smugly while Pansy talked to him, wand in his hand.

*

    That night, Harry's dreams were fitful. He was in the Department of Mysteries again searching for something. Once again, just like the last times, he heard Sirius's voice in his head. 'Harry, it's there, Harry … it's there …'

    'What's there?' Harry wanted to ask, but the words wouldn't come. But it turned out that he didn't need to ask the question, for Sirius answered. Unfortunately, it was as cryptic as all of Sirius's previous messages. 'It's there … just waiting for you … all it takes is time …'

    Harry felt frustrated and wanted to scream at Sirius to tell him what he was supposed to be searching for, but before he could do anything, the scene shifted and Harry found himself staring at the desert again. This time, he felt a gentle breeze brushing against his skin. He closed his eyes, hoping to will himself back into the Department of Mysteries, but to no avail. When he opened his eyes, he found that he was still in the desert alone.

    'Harry!' Harry jolted awake to see Ron standing over him. 'Wake up. We have to get to breakfast,'

    Harry blinked in confusion. 'Oh, yeah,' he said vaguely, getting up. He grabbed his uniform and his robes and went off to the showers. Ten minutes later, he reemerged fully dressed and ready and he and Ron went down to the Great Hall. Hermione was already there, absorbed in the _Daily Prophet and taking a bite out of her toast._

    'Hello,' she said brightly as they approached.

    Ron and Harry nodded in hello and sat down. Harry wasn't in a good mood, and it spiraled downwards when he remembered that he had Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Grubbly-Plank that morning with the Slytherins. When they got down there, they saw Grubbly-Plank waiting with a box next to her.

    'Originally, Hippogriffs were meant to be taught to the sixth years,' she said. 'But Hagrid told me that he taught it to you previously, so we shall be doing something a little harder. In this box,' she gestured to it with her hand, 'is a Kroll,'

    Many of the students gasped, including Ron and Hermione. Harry, Dean, Lavender and one of the Slytherins merely raised their eyebrows in confusion.

    'But Professor, they're really dangerous,' said Hermione.

    'Unfortunately, Ms. Granger, I would spare the students this, but it is a sure question to come out for the NEWTs,' Grubbly-Plank said. 'Now, Krolls are extremely dangerous, as they have many defenses surrounding them, so be sure to keep back,'

    The students took this warning to heart and ran back and watched fearfully as Professor Grubbly-Plank opened the box. What came out next was a creature that could be described at best, in Harry's opinion, was part-snake, part-lion. It had no legs and slithered around with beady eyes, but there was a mane of hair from the head. Its body was green, its eyes yellow and it had white teeth that was stained in what Harry thought looked disturbingly like blood.

    'Keep back,' Grubbly-Plank warned them again. 'Now, who can tell me what the defenses of a Kroll is?'

    Hermione's hand shot up. 'The tongue of a Kroll is its most powerful weapon,' she said when the teacher chose her. 'When the Kroll lashes out its tongue, it burns off the skin of the attacker. The skin of a Kroll is its second most powerful weapon. When attacked, the Kroll's skin will protect itself immediately and touching the skin would be dangerous,'

    'Twenty points to Gryffindor,' said Grubbly-Plank. 'That's exactly right. Notice what happens to the skin when the Kroll is attacked,'

    The students watched in bated breath and Grubbly-Plank took a pebble and heaved it at the Kroll. The monster let out a hiss and Harry was shocked to see porcupine quills shoot out. Everyone jumped out of its way when the Kroll started to slither around hissing and snapping at their heels. 'Watch the tongue!' Grubbly-Plank kept telling them over and over.

    After a while, the porcupine quills retracted and everyone breathed a little easier, though the Kroll was still suspicious of them all and kept hissing. Grubbly-Plank motioned for them to join her with her hand and the students crept over slowly, eyes still trained on the Kroll. 'Now,' she instructed once they had reached her, 'take down these notes'

    By the end of the lesson, the students were visibly shaken up, but the Kroll hadn't attacked them. It turned out that Krolls weren't normally very aggressive creatures unless they saw something they classified as food; luckily, humans didn't appeal to them. As they walked away, Harry wondered how Grubbly-Plank planned to get the Kroll back into its box without risking the porcupine quills.

    In Charms, Flitwick was set on teaching them Warming Charms. 'A highly useful charm in the cold weather,' he said. 'And next lesson, we shall be learning Cooling Charms. Now, simply flick your wand like this—' he pointed the wand to himself and swished it side to side three times, '—and say '_Calidus','_

    _'Calidus!'_ the class chanted. Flitwick clapped his hands in delight. 

    'Wonderful. Mr. Longbottom, please point the wand at yourself, not the person next to you,' Neville hasted to point the wand in his face. 'Now, let's do it one more time.'

    _'Calidus!'_ the class chanted and Harry was again greeted with a warm sensation tingling all over his body.

    After Charms, they headed down to Potions. Neville said goodbye and hurried off as it was his free period. 'Lucky,' Harry heard Ron mutter, and couldn't help but feel the same. They lined up in front of the dungeons and after a few minutes, Snape appeared to open the dungeons and they went in. 'Now,' said Snape, 'we shall be attempting an extremely hard potion which I feel will not be achieved quickly by any _weak_ students in this class,'

    His eyes drifted over the Gryffindors.

    'The directions are all on the board,' he took his wand and waved it at the blackboard behind him and the words appeared. He walked away and Harry and Malfoy got to work. As time progressed, Snape said to the class, 'This potion is a sure-fire question to appear in the NEWTs, and is one of the most used potion in the Ministry of Magic, so if anyone here is even _dreaming of doing work for the Ministry in your post-Hogwarts life, you had better master it by the time your NEWTs arrive and—yes, Ms. Granger?'_

    'Please, sir,' Hermione said, lowering her hand. 'What kind of potion are we making?'

    Harry swore that he saw Snape grin maliciously at him, but it was gone within a second. 'Veritaserum,' he said.

    After Potions, they went to Herbology and then to Transfigurations, where Professor McGonagall had decided to move on from Marble Transformations and on to Liquid Transfigurations. Harry was frustrated to see that Liquid Transfiguations were just as bad as Marble Transformations, and Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn't a bag of laughs either.

    That night, Harry drifted off to an unpleasant sleep. He saw images of Voldemort standing before him, laughing. 'Foolish boy,' growled Voldemort, raising his wand. 'What will your precious friends say when their Golden One falls?'

    Harry saw himself trying to jump out of the way, but he was too late. Harry winced as the green curse hit him straight in the chest, sending him flying. When he landed on the ground, Harry saw that his body was broken, with his head at an odd angle. The next thing he felt was a very solid slap.

    Harry gasped, his eyes flying open and saw Ron, Dean and Seamus standing over him, looking extremely worried. Harry let out a breath and sat up. 'I—I'm fine,'

    'Like hell,' said Ron angrily. 'This is hardly the first time you've been screaming bloody murder in your dreams. Harry, you _have_ to go to Dumbledore with this,'

    Harry saw Seamus's scared face and found himself nodding. 'Okay,' he agreed. 'I'll go tomorrow. First thing in the morning,'

    Ron, Dean and Seamus visibly relaxed and went back to bed. Neville slept soundly.

*

    The next day, Harry skipped his first class to go to Dumbledore, sure that Snape would understand when Ron gave his excuse for him. He stopped at the stone gargoyle which looked as good as new. 'Er …' Harry paused. 'Canary Creams?' The gargoyle didn't move. 'Cockroach Clusters? Lemon Drops?'

    The gargoyle jumped out of the way and Harry ran inside. He walked up to the door and knocked. There was a beat of silence before he heard Dumbledore's voice call out, 'Enter,'

    Harry pushed the door open and walked in and to his surprise saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley there along with Moody and Tonks. Sturgis Podmore was there too. Dumbledore's table had been elongated so that the five visitors could sit down with him. 'Ah, Harry,' said Dumbledore. 'What brings you up here at his early hour?'

    'Er, I had a dream, Professor,' Harry muttered, not feeling comfortable telling his story with everyone around.

    'Speak up, Potter,' growled Moody.

    'I … had a dream last night, Professor,' Harry said in a louder voice. 'About Voldemort,'

    Dumbledore leaned back, looking thoughtful. 'I see,' he said slowly. 'What was it about?'

    'It was …' Harry paused. Suddenly, in front of everyone, the dream seemed quite ridiculous. 'I was in a desert,' he said, remembering one of his previous dreams. 'And there was nothing there. No trees or anything, but then my scar began to hurt. And then Voldemort was there and he tried to—I mean, he _did_—kill me with the Avada Kedavra curse,'

    Dumbledore sat up straighter, and Moody looked very interested at this bit of news. 'A desert, you say,' said Dumbledore, stroking his chin. Harry nodded. He saw the members of the Order share significant looks with each other and realized that they knew something that they weren't sharing. 'I see,' continued Dumbledore. 'Well, thank you, Harry. I think you should be getting on to your class now. You have Potions with Professor Snape, don't you?'

    'Yes,' said Harry, floored. He didn't understand what Dumbledore was telling him. Was he honestly not going to do anything about what Harry had told him? He willed Dumbledore to look at him, but the headmaster was taking out a piece of parchment and scribbling something on it quickly. Harry nodded at everyone in the room and left.

    He was late for Potions and Snape was in a bad mood, but miraculously, he didn't deduct any points from Gryffindor, instead telling Harry to take his seat and do his work. Today, they were making an Aging potion, which was the opposite of what they had done the previous lesson. After class, Harry told Ron and Hermione about what had happened in Dumbledore's office and was glad to see that they too were puzzled by Dumbledore's strange behavior.

    'But you said that the—' Hermione looked around to make sure no one was listening, then whispered, '_Order was there, so maybe he didn't want to say anything in front of them,'_

    'Why would he want to keep anything away from them?' demanded Ron. 'I mean, they have to work together, and it's not like he can use that "you're too young" excuse on them like he can on us,'

    Hermione didn't reply and they went to their next class, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

    'Well, there's something they're hiding,' said Harry after classes when they were in the Common Room. 'Something they're not telling us. And your parents are in on it, Ron,' he turned to Ron. 'There's something significant about that desert, and I want to know what,'

    Ron looked unhopeful for a minute, but then his face brightened. 'Hey, if my parents know, then maybe Fred and George do too!' he suggested. 'Or Bill. Or Charlie.'

    Hermione looked impressed. 'You know, you could be right,' she said. 'And I'm sure the twins wouldn't mind sharing it with us. After all, they know how frustrating it is to be kept in the dark as well,' 

    'Can you contact them through the fire?' asked Harry.

    'I suppose the safest way would be to owl them,' said Ron. 'Let's go to the Owlery,'

    When they got there, Hermione handed Ron a piece of parchment and he hastily wrote a message on it. 'Get down here!' he roared at Pig, who was twittering madly above them. Pig flew down to them and he tied the letter to the owl's leg. 'Now, send this to Fred and George's new shop,' he told his pet. 'You've been there; I took you there during the summer. And get them to answer as quickly as they can,'

    Pig twittered and zoomed off, leaving the three friends in silence around the sleeping owls. 'Well then,' said Ron, 'I guess we should just … let them sleep,'

    'Right,' nodded Harry.

    'Let's go,' said Hermione and the three of them left the Owlery.

    At breakfast the next day, Pig dropped off their letter, which Ron ripped open excitedly. The content of the letter, however, was less than exciting.

_Dear brother of George and I—_

_    As much as we would love to tell you every little dark secret the Order is hiding, we know about as much as you do. Probably less, knowing you three. Mum seems to have found a new use for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes—a suitable excuse of keeping us out of the meetings. The number of times she's said, 'Shouldn't you be off to work now, dears,' is enough to drive me and George wonky. Anyway, wish we could help. How about a box of jokes at full price as a consolation? Only kidding._

_Wishing you the very, very, very best in your sixth year and hoping you don't die of exhaustion_

_Fred and George_

'Darn' said Ron, crumpling up the letter in disgust. 'Should have known Mum would have found a way to keep them away from the meetings,'

    'Well, that's shot,' sighed Harry. 'What else could we do to find out?'

    'We could owl Bill,' Ron said, not sounding very optimistic. 'He's still doing that desk job for the Order in England. Might get some answers out of him,'

    'He'd probably refuse us because we're too young,' sighed Harry. 'No offense, he's great and all, but I doubt he would be irresponsible enough to give us any information,'

    'Harry's right,' agreed Hermione. 'We'd best get to class now,'

    'Harry and I don't have class,' said Ron. 'Divination is next,' 

    Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Well, then I certainly hope you use this time to catch up on your homework,' she said. 'See you, then,'

    No sooner had she left did Professor McGonagall come up to them and hand Harry a piece of parchment. 'From Professor Dumbledore, Potter,' she said before walking off.

    Harry unrolled the parchment.

_I, Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of __Hogwarts__School__ of Witchcraft and Wizardry, hereby reinstate Harry James Potter as a Divination student to be supervised in the art under the care of Professors Trelawney and _Firenze___._

_Signed,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Harry's jaw dropped.

    'He wants me to start Divination again!' he exclaimed. 'He can't do that! Can he?'

    Ron snatched the letter away from Harry. 'It looks quite official,' he said. 'I suppose he can, Harry, but why would he want to?'

    'I don't know,' said Harry, horror-struck at the thought of being stuck in the stuffy classroom with Trelawney again. 'I guess I'd better go then. You don't think this has anything to do with the dream, do you? Because if it does, then this is all your fault,'

    'Sorry,' said Ron humbly. Harry got up from his seat and went off. Halfway to the stairs leading up to the North Tower, he remembered that Firenze couldn't climb up the ladder, and decided that class would be held in Classroom Eleven. Turning around, he ran to the class and entered it just as everyone was sitting down.

    He saw immediately that "everyone" consisted of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who were probably the only two Gryffindors who actually liked the subject. When they caught sight of Harry, they started giggling. Firenze looked up and waved in hello and Professor Trelawney drifted over to him. 'Ah, yes,' she said in her misty voice, 'I had predicted that you would return to Divination this year, my dear. You see, the allure of the unknown is too great for your Inner Eye to resist. It wants to flourish. Flourish like a flower,'

    'Um, yeah,' said Harry uncomfortably, walking into class. Parvati and Lavender were still giggling behind their hands when he sat down.

    'Now, my dear,' said Trelawney, turning to the board behind her. There was a very poorly drawn diagram there, and if it had not been for the caption that read 'Mars', Harry would have not known what it was. 'As you can see, Mars is drawing quite close to Earth—' she pointed at the circle before the one captioned as Mars, '—thus telling us that accidents are very likely to occur as the year progresses,'

    Parvati and Lavender were listening with rapt attention but Firenze let out an impatient sigh. 'Nonsense,' he interrupted. Trelawney glared at him.

    'I beg your pardon?' she said in gritted teeth. 

    'Nonsense,' repeated Firenze, who didn't seem to have picked up on her angry tone. 'Mars is not the bringer of accidents, it is the bringer of war,'

    'I'm afraid,' said Trelawney coldly, 'that throughout the year, you have given very general ideas to the students, and ideas that do not apply to all of them—'

    'The war shall affect everyone,' Firenze interrupted again. 'I am afraid that it is _you who has been giving general ideas to the students. If we were to follow your explanations, we would be seeing cuts on every student in the school, and that is simply too improbable. The war is approaching and the wizarding world has been alerted. Even to those who do not participate in the war shall be affected by it just as they were fifteen years ago,'_

    'I have been constantly criticized in my line of duty, as we Seers always are,' Trelawney said with the air of someone who had just come out of a great battle. 'If you would be so kind as to remember that my gift was inherited by the most celebrated Seer of five hundred years—'

    'The centaurs all know the story of Cassandra Trelawney,' said Firenze. 'And she was celebrated for having warned the world of a coming evil before her execution,'

    'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has already been warned of,' said Trelawney. She sat down on one of the chairs. 'I do not feel very well today, my dears,' she murmured. 'Maybe it would be best to call off the remainder of the class. And it would give me and Mr. Firenze a chance to work out several kinks when it comes to our teaching methods,'

    The three students got up and left the classroom, and Harry felt extremely relieved to have Firenze around to liven up the class a little.

    He found Ron five minutes before their next class, which was Herbology again. As they went down to the greenhouses, they heard a shriek. 'The Hufflepuffs are having Care of Magical Creatures right now,' grinned Ron. 'And I'm guessing that they don't find Krolls a very relaxing subject,'

    They laughed and walked past the Hufflepuffs where Hannah Abbot was running around in circles and Professor Grubbly-Plank was telling her to stop making sudden moves. 'Think we should help?' asked Harry uncertainly. Ron shrugged and Harry decided that he could be of service.

    Walking over with Ron, they saw Ernie was shaking in fright while Justin Finch-Fletchley and another boy Harry didn't recognize backed away slowly from the Kroll. Harry took out his wand and opened his mouth to stupefy the Kroll, not too sure if it would work against its skin but deciding it was worth a try. What came out, however, was a command to stop advancing. The Kroll froze in its steps and looked over at Harry in interest.

    _'Don't touch them,' _Harry commanded it. _'Go back to your box.'_  The Kroll nodded at him and turned around and slithered to its wooden crate. Harry saw students jumping out of the way as it passed. When he looked up, he saw that Grubbly-Plank was staring at him with a stunned expression, hand over her heart and the Hufflepuffs were shifting awkwardly.

    He realized too late that he had used his Parseltongue gift in public. The Hufflepuff sixth-years were no stranger to his gift, of course, having been exposed to it in their second year when they had briefly thought of Harry as the thug who was attacking students, naming him the Heir of Slytherin. He hoped that they would be open minded the second time around, especially after all that had happened in the past few years.

    He felt Ron pulling on his arm. 'Come on,' his friend muttered. 'Let's get out of here,'

    Harry let himself be pulled away by Ron, but he didn't lead them to the greenhouses. 'Where are we going?' he demanded. 'We have Herbology now!'

    'Don't be daft,' said Ron. 'After that? Sprout is the Hufflepuff head. Trust me, things are going to get a little thorny with her. Best avoid her until after things blow over,'

    'But she won't know yet,'

    'Trust me,' said Ron firmly. 'News travels fast. Gryffindors could have been passing by on the way to Herbology before your little show, and in any case, Grubbly-Plank won't be too eager to continue today's class, so chances are the sixth-years are free to go and warn their precious little Head about you,'

    They spent their lesson up in the Gryffindor Common Room and sure enough, the door open and Hermione flew inside, looking distressed. 'Where were you?' she demanded of them when she reached them. 'The Hufflepuffs were with us at Herbology and I heard them say that Harry spoke Parseltongue—well, it wasn't too hard to hear, actually, they were practically hysterical—and everyone started staring at me as thought _I was the one who spoke that accursed language—'_

    'I was helping them!' said Harry indignantly. 'Great. Perfect. It's second year all over again.'

    'Harry,' said Hermione after taking a few deep breaths, 'what _happened?_'

    'They were studying Krolls and the Hufflepuffs were scared, so I went to help them and ended up telling the Kroll to leave them alone,' explained Harry. Hermione stared at him as if he was the biggest idiot she had ever seen.

    'And it didn't occur to you that Professor Grubbly-Plank could handle it herself?' she inquired.

    'She obviously couldn't,' said Harry stubbornly.

    'Well, why didn't you just try to freeze it?' challenged Hermione.

    'I _wanted_ to,' answered Harry. 'I raised my wand to Stupefy it, and instead I spoke Parseltongue. It's not like I can help it, Hermione,'

    'Oh, I know,' she said, twisting her robes with her hands. 'But you should know that the Hufflepuffs have the whole school talking. It would be best if you didn't show up for dinner. Both of you,' she added, looking at Ron, whose jaw dropped.

    'What are we supposed to do, starve?'

    'Oh, Ron, you can go one day without your dinner,' she snapped. 'The important thing now is damage control. The whole school is going to be talking about you again, Harry and—'

    'You know what?' Harry raised his hands, 'I don't care,'

    Hermione stopped. 'You don't care?' she asked.

    'Nope. Not even a little bit. If they think that I'm the enemy, go ahead. Lets see how well they do on the battlefield,' said Harry.

    'Oh, but you must not talk that way,' said Hermione.

    'I can't help it, Hermione,' said Harry. 'I'm through defending myself,'

    'Harry's right,' Ron spoke up. 'Why should he have to waste his time telling people he's on their side. If they don't want to believe him, that's their problem, not his,'

    Hermione chewed on her bottom lip. 'Well …' she said hesitantly, 'I suppose I see your point …'

    'Right then,' grinned Ron. 'We've got an hour to kill before our next lesson. Anyone for a game of Wizards Chess?'

     That night at dinner, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way down to the Great Hall confidently. All through the meal, Harry heard his schoolmates whispering and managed to even catch slivers of their conversations. Thankfully, he saw that Dean, Neville and, most importantly, Seamus, were by his side. 'Don't listen to them, Harry,' said Neville when one of the Slytherins gave a particularly nasty laugh.

    'Yeah, their just a bunch of small fucks,' agreed Dean. Seamus didn't say anything, but Harry was gratified to feel his boyfriend's fingers lace through his own. At that very moment, the doors flew open and Professor Grubbly-Plank ran in, huffing and puffing.

    'The Kroll—' she gasped. 'The Kroll is loose on school grounds!'

    There was a moment of silence.

    Then everyone screamed.

    The teachers got to their feet and Dumbledore tried to reinstall the peace, but to no avail. Unlike Harry's first year, when a troll had been let in by Professor Quirell, chaos now ruled the students. Apparently, they all found a Kroll slightly more dangerous than a troll. Harry got to his feet too. 'Come on,' he told Ron and Hermione. 'We've got to find it,'

    'Oh, but—' Hermione started, but Harry didn't let her finish.

    'Come _on,_' he said insistently. 'I'm probably the only one the Kroll will listen to,'

    Hermione obviously found this logical, for she nodded and the three of them took off, not noticing Seamus, Dean, Neville and Ginny running after them.

    'Where do you think it is?' asked Ron as they ran.

    'I don't know,' Harry panted. 'Hermione, do you—'

    'Krolls like dark places,' she said before Harry could get his question out.

    'Wow, that narrows it down, doesn't it?' said Ron sarcastically.

    'Why don't you try the third floor corridor?' suggested Ginny, as she, Neville, Dean and Seamus caught up to them. Harry looked surprised to see them, but nodded anyway.

    'Let's go,' he said. They ran up the staircase leading up to the third floor, thankfully reaching it before the stairs started to shift. It was just as Harry remembered. Dank and dark, which few torches to light up the place. An ideal condition for the Kroll.

    'Here, Krolly, Krolly, Krolly, Krolly,' whispered Ron. Everyone stared at him. 'What?' he asked. 'I thought it might work,'

     Ginny rolled her eyes. Then they heard it. A low hissing sound.

    'The Kroll,' muttered Harry. 'Keep quiet, all of you,'

    They fell silent and Harry heard the hiss again. Then he saw the figure of the snake, but it wasn't the Kroll.

    'H—Harry,' Ron whimpered.

    'Yeah, Ron?' Harry's eyes were trained on the snake before him.

    'Are Krolls supposed to be that big?'

    'Not that I remember.' He turned to Hermione. 'Hermione?'

    She shook her head.

    The snake let out a hiss again and began to talk. _'Harry Potter,'_

    Harry bit his lip. _'Voldemort,' he hissed._

    The snake didn't deny it. _'You see the greatness of my power, Potter,' it said to him in Parseltongue. __'There are no more chances for you. You will not survive this year,'_

_    'How long have you been hiding here?'_

_    'Not as long as you think. In fact, I have only just appeared here,'_

    Harry paused. 'Everyone,' he said in an even voice. 'Run!'

    The snake let out a hiss that Harry guessed was supposed to be a laugh before it lunged forwards, its mouth open. Harry shut his eyes tightly and heard everybody scream in terror. But then the snake passed through him and dissolved, as though it were made from sand. Harry opened his eyes.

    'An—an illusion,' said Hermione in a shaky voice. 'Only an illusion,'

    'Harry was that—?'

    'Voldemort, yeah,' Harry said, trembling. He patted himself as if to make sure that his clothes hadn't turned into snake skin.

    'That was too scary,' said Seamus in a quivering tone. 'Let's go up to the Tower. I'm sure the teachers can find the Kroll on their own,'

    'Yeah,' Harry granted. 'Let's go,'

    They left the third floor corridor and returned to Gryffindor Tower. The students had already returned to the safety of their dorms to hide from the Kroll, and Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville bade Hermione and Ginny goodnight as they went up to their room. While they were changing for bed, they froze when they heard a hiss.

    'Oh, nooooo,' moaned Neville.

    The Kroll slithered out from under Harry's bed, hissing. 'So that's where you were,' said Harry. After meeting with the Voldemort-snake, the Kroll didn't seem half as intimidating as before. His roommates obviously felt the same because they made no move to run out of the room. Harry picked up the Kroll gently, relived its quills didn't shoot out.

    'Are you going to give it back to Grubbly-Plank?' Ron eyed the Kroll warily.

    'No, I don't think so,' said Harry. 'I don't think he likes it in that crate,'

    'So, it's going to be your pet?' asked Seamus.

    'Snakes eat owls, don't they?' asked Dean.

    'I don't think Krolls do,' said Harry, though he wasn't very sure about this. 'But I would like to keep him,'

    _'What's your name?'_ he asked it. _'I'm Harry. Harry Potter,'_

    _'I don't have one,'_ the Kroll told him.

_    'Then I'll give you one,'_ decided Harry. _'How do you feel about Goliath?'_

The Kroll didn't answer at first, seeming to think it over. _'I like it,' _it said finally.

    _'Good,'_ said Harry happily. _'Goliath it is, then,'_

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. It's been a challenge writing this chapter, but I hope you like it. Thanks!


	10. Last Note

Dear readers,

I know I have kept you waiting for a long time with this fic, and I thought that it was time for an explanation. The fact of the matter is, I have lost interest in the Harry Potter series ever since I saw Return of the King in December 2003, and to answer your question, no I won't be continuing this story.

But if you want, I could reveal to you the plot of the story:  
  
**Sirius**

Sirius is still alive, yet dead (but not undead). He lingers now in the spirit world which he was sent through by the veil in OotP. In the last few chapters, I planned on Harry entering the Department of Mysteries and freeing him with the Green Flame Torch, which is the weapon he got from the locked room.

**Voldemort's**** Plan**

Harry was to find out in the last few chapters that Voldemort was desperately searching for a weapon. However, it is not a typical weapon: Voldemort seeks a magical realm, but he cannot find it. Using the Department of Intelligence, along with his own sources, he finds the realm is located in Egypt: The Valley of the Gods. Harry and company follow him to the Valley but arrive too late. They narrowly escape death from Voldemort's hands, and Voldemort returns to his lair. However, Hermione figured that Voldemort wanted to become a god, but in the final chapter it was to be revealed that she was wrong. Voldemort wanted the godly powers to do something no one has ever done before: he wanted to bring Salazar Slytherin back from the dead.

**Draco******

In _Hidden Circles, _which was to be the tenth chapter, Harry would find a huge circle filled with four circles inside. This is how he would have teleported to Egypt. But to get it to work, four people are needed, which is what Dumbledore tells him. But when the trio realize what Voldemort is up to, they have no time to find anyone to fill the fourth circle, and go to it anyway, hoping to find some way to get it to work. Miraculously, it does. In the final chapter, we were to find out that Draco was with them, using an ability that the Malfoys have long possessed: Astral Transformation. Draco has been using it all year to keep tabs on Harry, and uses it to help them get to Voldemort.

Sorry I never got to finish this story, but I couldn't after I realized just how similar Harry Potter is to the Lord of the Rings.


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